If she could just stop getting kidnapped, Link would finally be able to give her his heart, but I doubt that’s ever going to happen. Oh well, we can still appreciate the card, created by Adam Bing, even if Zelda herself will never get it.

Link Via Kotaku

The perfect geeky Valentine for any Whovians out there. I don’t know about you guys, but I’d love to get a homemade card tailored to my personal interests like this.

Link Via The Daily What

If you’re measuring by way of divorce, the myth of the seven year itch may not be a myth after all; according to the 2009 U.S. Census Bureau, the median duration of first marriages that end in divorce is 7.9 years.

Like the Oddee one, there are no naughty pictures, but it still might be something you won’t want to read at work.

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Longest Kiss

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I don’t know about you guys, but I would need a serious Chap Stick infusion after kissing someone for 46 and a half hours. The couple, Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat, was part of a contest held in Thailand in 2011, which led to seven couples breaking the existing record of 32 hours that was set back in 2009.

 Longest Underwater Kiss

It takes two people who can both hold their breath for a long while to break this record, which is why it is so impressive that Italians Michele Fucarino and Elisa Lazzarini were able to hold their breath while kissing for 3 minutes and 24 seconds.

Longest Underwater Mouth-to-Mouth Kiss

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While the Italian couple may have set the record for longest underwater kiss without breathing, Antonio de la Rosa Suarez holds a different but equally impressive record for kissing underwater. In his case, two women took turns kissing him while passing air to him. He stayed down there for 7 minutes, which seems like a relatively short record given that he was allowed to breathe during the process. Maybe one of you guys could take a crack at this one.

Most Expensive Kiss

Love Sharon Stone? Not as much as Joni Rimm apparently. Rimm actually shelled out $50,000 for one kiss with the actress, who offered up a lick-smacking session as part of a charity auction supporting Project Angel Foods, a charity dedicated to providing free meals for people with HIV and AIDS.

Most Simultaneous Underwater Marriages

As if having a giant wedding ceremony wasn’t romantic enough, the fact that 34 couples opted to exchange wedding vows underwater on Valentine’s Day makes this one sweet occasion, even if kissing the bride 33 feet underwater isn’t exactly an easy proposition.

Longest Hug

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It seems strange, but the world’s longest hug was actually almost a full day shorter than the world’s longest kiss. At only 24 hours and 33 minutes, it seems that this record, held by Ron O’Neil and Theresa Kerr, is just begging to be broken –so if you want to get in the book, better start locking arms now.

Longest Hug Marathon

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Did you know that January 21 is National Hugging Day? Six couples in the UK certainly were when they worked to break the record for longest hug marathon on the cuddly holiday. The hugging marathon lasted for 24 hours and 44 minutes, although two of the couples dropped out as they broke their hugs during the marathon.

If you’re wondering what makes a hug marathon different from a regular hugging record, it’s the simple fact that marathoners are permitted to take a five minute long break every hour, which they can save up for a longer break if they want. Given that this record is only 11 minutes longer than the longest hug record and it allows you breaks for food and bathroom time, it seems like it might be even easier to break.

Largest Group Hug

Of course, if you don’t want to hug just one person for an extended period, you can always opt to be part of the largest hug. The current record involved 10,554 participants hugging in Ottawa in 2010. That’s a whole lot of arms!

Most Hugs In A 24 Hour Period

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For those with a lot of love to share though, you can always try hugging lots of strangers, opting to achieve the most hugs in a 24 hour period. This record seems pretty hard to break though, given that the current record holder, Jeff Ondash, managed to get in 7,777 hugs in only 24 hours while standing outside of a Vegas casino on Valentine’s Day.

Oldest Couple to Get Married

Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that record breaking requires a youthful vigor. In fact, many are awarded to the oldest people to participate in a given activity. In the case of the oldest couple to get married, based on their aggregate age, the record goes to Francois Frenandez and Madeleine Francineau who were married in 2002 at the ages of 96 and 94, respectively.

Longest Marriage

As for the couple who tested out the “til death do us part” section of their vows more than any other couple, that goes to Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher, who were married for over 86 years. If 60 years is the Diamond Anniversary, does anyone know what the 80^th is?

Most Marriage Vow Renewals

While they may not be anywhere close to the longest marriage record, Lauren and David Blair have celebrated the most vow renewals –exchanging vows over 100 times after only having been married 27 years. While it might sound like overkill, just think of all the great honeymoons the couple got to enjoy.

The Oldest Cultivated Decorative Plant

To be fair, this one doesn’t sound romantic by the title, but the fact that roses have been cultivated for their beauty longer than any other plant is pretty impressive and adds an impressive context to a Valentine’s Day bouquet. The flowers have been grown since at least 50 AD, when the Romans started growing them in plantations and hot houses to ensure a year-round supply.

Image Via alice_ling [Flickr]

Largest Chocolate

Want some chocolates to go with your flowers? Well, nothing would impress your date quite like the world’s largest chocolate. Created by Hershey’s in 2007, this massive Kiss weighed in at 30,540 pounds. Better hope he or she doesn’t try to eat it all in one sitting or you might just spend Valentine’s Day in the ER.

Image Via vanderwal [Flickr]

Most Expensive Diamond

If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, then the 100 carat diamond that sold for $16,561,171 in 1995 must be the best friend a gal could ever hope for.

So, any of you think you could break some of these records? Personally, the only one I think I’d ever want to be involved with would be the bear hug. I just don’t think I could deal with kissing someone for over 24 hours at a time.

Looking for a sweet gift that won’t add to someone’s waistline? Then why not crochet some adorable truffles in a heart-shaped box using this great pattern.

Link Via CraftZine

Looking for something really different to give your loved one this Valentine’s Day? How about a roach?

How better to express your appreciation for that special someone than to name one of the Bronx Zoo’s 58,000 Madagascar hissing cockroach after them? Best of all, when you purchase this everlasting gift, you’ll help support the Wildlife Conservation Society and its five parks in New York City.

Ok, so technically, it might not be the most romantic gift, but it’s certainly something that won’t soon be forgotten, which is more than you can say about a dozed roses.

Link Via The Mary Sue

Psshh…chocolates are so twentieth century. In a world that’s obsessed with zombies, there’s no better Valentine’s gift than a simple, handmade set of zombie monsters. You can buy you own set over at Etsy.

Link Via CraftZine

Let’s face it, most holidays already marked on your calendar are pretty boring -Valentine’s Day, Easter, Father’s Day…yawn. If you really want to geek up your wall calendar and ensure you celebrate holidays more appropriate to your specific interests, don’t miss io9′s round up of great science holiday including Pi approximation day (July 22) and Hagfish Day (October 17). Of course, since they’re all science related, certain other geek holidays are left out -after all, you can’t miss out on Towel Day.

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Knitted/Crocheted

Unsurprisingly, many of the best geek hats are custom made and, since many nerds also enjoy crafting, the majority of great geek hats you’ll find are knitted or crocheted.

Nerd Domo

As if any crochet Domo hat weren’t nerdy enough, Etsy seller littlepopos opted to make Domo in his excellent nerd incarnation, complete with tape on his glasses.

Skyrim

What better way to play your role as the Dovahkiin than to wear this delightful crochet steel helm based on the in-game icon by Etsy seller CreativeExcess. If you don’t want to fork over the money to get your own completed hat, you can always buy the pattern for $5, which is sort of a real-world version of forging your own helmet.

Pikachu

Pika-Pika-Pika-Hat! Why catch them all when you can get the cutest Pokemon hat from Etsy seller littlepopos?

Flying Spaghetti Monster

Are you a Pastafarian? Then show off your faith with this great Flying Spaghetti Monster beanie by Etsy seller atemptingmorsel.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Sometimes scarfing pizza and fighting crime with sweet marshal arts skills in winter can be way too chilly for the average head to handle. Fortunately, now you can stay warm in the style of your inspiration with these great TMNT caps by Etsy seller charmed come complete with matching masks in your choice of colors.

Cthulhu

Skiing Lovecraft lovers rejoice, you can finally hit the slopes in style thanks to Etsy seller CraftyPA’s Cthulhu ski hat. Lest you worry about being able to consume food or beverage while keeping your head warm in such fashion, don’t worry, there’s a mouth hole under the tentacles.

Fleece

If you don’t like yarn-ridden beanies though, perhaps you’d prefer one of these great geeky fleece hats.

Cthulhu

Yes, the great lord Cthulhu comes in all forms. For those who don’t like ski masks, perhaps a fleece monster on your head will be more comfortable. If that’s the case, head over to Etsy seller GrapeVineFires and grab your own evil headgear.

R2D2

Of course, those who prefer the myths of The Force will find themselves much more comfortable in this great R2D2 beanie by Etsy seller EnchantedCraft. If you buy one though, be prepared to be harassed into beeping all of your conversations every time you wear your new hat.

Angry Birds

Our Angry Birds Laplander hat is out of stock, but it’s certainly a cute addition to any hat collection and I’m sure that if enough of you request to be notified when the item is back in stock –Alex will make sure to order more as fast as he can.

Baseball Hats

These days, baseball caps are undoubtedly the most popular form of headgear around. For those who prefer to maintain a classic American style, these hats are sure to please.

Space Invaders

No word on where Flickr user mmoroca found this delightful Space Invaders hat, but if you happen to know where to buy one, please let us know in the comments as I’m sure many readers would love to have their own classic gaming hat.

w00t

Whether you’re a fan of the online shopping site or just like to use the expression to exclaim your joy, this w00t hat by Etsy seller ThreadFed is perfect for anyone who spends a lot of time online.

Like

Do you love Facebook? Well then, share your “like” with the world with this great like button hat by Etsy seller ThreadFed.

Beast of Arrrggghhh

To be fair, this one might not really look like a traditional baseball cap, but under all the eyes and horns great Monty Python plush is a classic, and comfortable, billed hat.

Wild & Weird

Don’t think for a second that geek hats are limited to the standard styles of beanies and baseball caps. Here are a few wonderfully weird options for those of you who really want your hats to make a statement.

Tim the Enchanter

For those who prefer to play as wizards rather than as monsters, this Tim the Enchanter hat should help you along your way, even if it might not be the most effective path of magical learning.

Sorting Hat

While it might not be the weirdest hat on this list, it’s undoubtedly one of the most geeky. After all, only a true nerd will appreciate the true value of an authentic Sorting Hat, particularly one purchased from the always wonderful Neatoshop.

Brain

Whether you’re setting up a trap to attract zombies or you just want to creep out those with an aversion to gore, this delightful brain cap is a great hat for any horror fan. Best of all, it’s the only one on this list that can be made at home using items you likely already have around the house.

Tesla Coil

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If you really want to get weird with your hat though, you could always follow these directions to make your own Tesla Coil hat that happens to play the theme song to Mortal Kombat. Sure it’s incredibly dangerous, but isn’t that half the point?

Do any of you have any great geeky hats? Will you be celebrating National Hat Day this year? Personally, I’ll be wearing one of my many vintage hats, it’s not really geeky, but I almost never wear them, so a holiday is a great excuse to do so.

This great picture of Lucas Arts’ holiday card from this year made me wish I was on their Christmas card list. This particular card was sent to Bonnie Burton, the editor of The Official Star Wars Blog.

Image Via Laughing Squid

Even if you don’t live in America, you’re probably familiar with our New Year’s Eve traditions, being as how they’re played on TV stations across the globe and portrayed in countless movies. That being said, there are tons more celebrations out there that don’t involve kissing at midnight, watching a ball drop and staring at fireworks in awe.  Here are a few New Year’s Eve traditions from around the world.

Image Via asterix611 [Flickr]

Bring Gifts to Neighbors

It’s always nice to get a gift from a neighbor, friend or family member, but in some countries, visitors bearing gifts are practically guaranteed on the first day of the year. The tradition is commonly known as First-Footing and while it’s practiced everywhere from Russia to Wales to parts of the U.S., it is most common in Scotland. While the gifts brought for the occasion are important as they represent the type of luck the recipient will receive, it is also important who brings the gift. Ideally, the first person to enter a home at this period will be a tall, dark man, as this will bring the most luck.

Swing a Fireball Above Your Head

Scotland’s New Year’s Eve celebrations are known as Hogmanay and the celebration is responsible for introducing the “Auld Lang Syne” song to the world. But the festivities vary from place to place and while some areas celebrate by singing and linking arms at the appropriate point in the song, other celebrations are much more dangerous.

In Stonehaven, locals make up balls of chicken wire filled with newspapers, sticks and rags that sometimes measure up to two feet wide. Each ball is attached to a chain or nonflammable rope about three feet long. At midnight, the balls are then set on fire and swung around the heads of their creators as other revelers watch the spectacle. Eventually, the fireballs are put out or thrown into the harbor. Despite the dangers, the event has drawn in many tourists and the small town now sees around 12,000 people standing in the city streets to watch the fire balls spin. If you want to see the action without risking life and limb, the celebration is now streamed on the internet.

Image Via MrPurple [Wikipedia]

Burn Effigies

If you just can’t get enough burning out of your New Year’s experience and you’ve already visited Stonehaven, then perhaps it’s time to purchase a ticket to Ecuador. That’s because on New Year’s Eve, locals line the streets with effigies of people who have made a negative impact on the last year, most commonly, unpopular politicians. Thousands of dummies are lit up at the stroke of midnight in an effort to prevent the negative events associate with those people from impacting the new year.

Image Via lowfill [Flickr]

Munch Some Grapes

In Mexico, Spain and a number of other Latin countries, it is popular tradition to make a wish and eat one grape for each bell that chimes the sound of midnight. That means you must be a really fast eater or you’re bound to be stuck with a dozen grapes in your mouth all at once. If you are able to swallow them all, then your dreams are said to come true.

This tradition is actually fairly new, starting in 1909 when grape growers in Alicante thought up the idea as a way to help get rid of some of their extensive grape surplus from the year’s harvest. It quickly took off though and now people across the globe think of grapes as a must have for New Year’s Eve. As quickly as the tradition swept through Latin cultures, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see Americans adopting the tradition in the future.

Wear Colored Panties

In many countries, including Spain, Italy, Bolivia, and a variety of other countries, it is also traditional to wear certain colors of underwear on New Year’s Eve in order to bring good luck in the next year. While red is the traditional color in Spain and Italy, colors vary from country to country. In Bolivia, red is for love and yellow is for money…presumably that means you’re in for both if you wear red and yellow polka dots.

Image Via PinkLens [Flickr]

Chase Away Devils

For many cultures, the New Year is a time to wash away the old year and prepare for good fortune in the upcoming year, but in Puerto Rico and the Philippines, it’s a time to chase away the demons that have been haunting you and your home.

Revelers honk car horns, blast boat whistles, bang drums and ring church bells all in an effort to chase away evil spirits and demons. In some areas of Puerto Rico, they also throw pails of water from the windows in order to chase away further evil.

In Puerto Rico, those that aren’t on land throwing water from their windows or making noise instead fall backwards into the ocean waves as the clock strikes midnight in an effort to bring in good luck for the upcoming year.

In the Philippines, it is tradition to wear clothes bearing circular patterns, as they should attract wealth, as will throwing coins in the air at midnight and serving circular fruits with dinner. Those who wish to be taller should jump as the clock turns to twelve.

Eat a Ton

While many cultures have a traditional feast on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, Estonians take it to a whole new level. It is considered good luck to eat seven, nine, even twelve times on New Year’s Eve and for each meal eaten, the diner is said to gain the strength of that many men in the following year. It’s not totally gluttonous though. The meals are never supposed to be finished entirely, as the leftovers are to be provided for the spirits who visit that night.

Image Via Raasiel [Flickr]

Predict the Future

Many people like to set goals for the upcoming year, but some people take it a step further and actually try to predict what the year will bring. In Germany, fortunes are sometimes told by dropping molten lead into water and then evaluating the shapes of the drops.

In Romania, fortune tellers take to peeling, salting and reading the skins of 12 onions. It is said that someone who is particularly good at this skill can evaluate the weather of the upcoming year.

Image Via OnTheBorderLand [Flickr]

Excessively Clean and Cook, Then Relax

In Japan, New Year’s Day is one of the biggest holidays of the year, so locals spend the majority of the day cleaning their home to prepare for the first day of the year. They then have the largest feast of the year, featuring noodles that represent the crossing over from one year to the next. Traditionally, New Year’s Eve would require extensive cooking, not only to prepare the meal for that night, but also three days worth of non-perishable dishes, as the local shops would be closed. But this tradition is less common now that refrigeration is widely available and more shops are open in the days following the holiday.

At midnight, many people visit a local Buddhist temple, where monks ring bells 108 times, representing the different defilements people have in their head. The ringing of the bells is meant as a means of repentance for these naughty thoughts.

Finally, on New Year’s Day, residents are expected to rest and no work is to be done that day. Children often receive small gifts of money in celebration and hard working adults get the day off from the office –it’s a win/win.

Copy Times Square

While most of China doesn’t celebrate New Year’s Eve because locals still base their holidays on the Lunar calendar, Hong Kong is a notable exception. What makes their celebration different from the rest of the world’s is their replica of the Time’s Square ball dropping ceremony in the Times Square shopping mall. While it might not be as big of a deal as the original event, it’s certain to have less crowds and will probably be at least a little warmer than the celebration in New York.

Image Via ellesil [Flickr]

Do any of you celebrate less common New Year’s Eve traditions? What was the strangest holiday tradition you ever witnessed? I want to start doing the grape thing myself, although it certainly sounds like a challenge –especially if I still want my New Year’s kiss and a sip of champagne when the clock finishes chiming.

Sources: Wikipedia #1, #2, #3, Mental Floss #1, #2, Infoplease

Man, Christmas seems to come and go faster each year! These ads harken back to a simpler time, a time when cowboys were all the rage, and gun ads were allowed to appeal to kids during the holidays.

It’s a nice bit of nostalgia, and a few of the pics in this gallery are definitely chuckle worthy. Just don’t shoot your eye out!

Link –via BoingBoing

If you’re getting sick of all the Christmas posts today, perhaps this will be a refreshing change of pace. Here is a great collection of adorable critters wearing yarmulkes. Of course, if you’re tired of holiday posts in general, well, this won’t help you much.

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If you love Christmas animations, but start to feel like they’re a little too old and cliched, here’s the real reason why intrepid animators never update them to fit in with modern times.

Link Via Laughing Squid

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If you’re one of the many people who has become obsessed with Skyrim, but your wife keeps insisting that you put up the Christmas lights, what do you do? Why make Skyrim-themed lights of course!

Via BuzzFeed

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In honor of all of the great action movies that take place on Christmas, 39 Degrees brings you Gundog, the greatest action movie animal of all time.

Via BuzzFeed

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Sometimes great ideas go terribly wrong, especially when it comes to Christmas specials. For some reason, people tend to drop the ball when writing these holiday specials, and the results are hilariously bad.

While I disagree with the Rankin Bass specials being on this list, I will be the first to admit that they are a bit hokey by today’s standards, but I have a special place in my heart for all things stop motion so meh.

The rest of the specials definitely belong on this list, and some of them are so bad they serve to dampen my Christmas spirit, like the Larry The Cable Guy travesty above. Watch them with good humor, and wonder just what they were thinking when they made these stinkers!

–via ToplessRobot

Technically Festivus was yesterday, but in case you couldn’t get the day off work and will be celebrating today, the link has more information on America’s favorite television-inspired Christmas alternative.

Link Via Geekosystem

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You may recall Teddy’s earlier video where he eats corn, but here he is getting into the holiday spirit with a delicious Christmas cookie.

Via I Can Has Cheezburger

Did you know that Swedes love to watch Donald Duck on Christmas Eve or that Icelandic children are raised under the threat of a cruel Christmas cat? Mental Floss has a great article about Christmas traditions around the world, my favorite of which is the Gävle goat of Sweden:

In the Swedish town of Gävle, the goat became an effigy made of straw, built in the town square every year since 1966. At 13 meters tall, the Gävle Goat towers over the townspeople. The very first straw goat in 1966 was mysteriously set on fire at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Since then, the goat has been erected every year, and burned by unknown individuals about half of those years. Locals take sides, with some protecting the goat with schemes like soaking it in water, while others plot its demise.

I don’t know about you guys, but I want to be on a goat protection or destruction team next year!

Link

Cats get a bad rap for not getting in to the the holiday spirit, but plenty of felines do have a soft spot for the holiday. In fact, BuzzFeed has a great collection of pictures of kitties celebrating Christmas. From cats climbing Christmas trees to kittens playing with presents, the pictures are all simply adorable.

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The holidays are in full swing, and everyone wants to share good tidings with one another in their own unique way via the interwebs. The animators in this group are no different, and they have a particularly endearing way of showing their love for the holidays.

Enjoy this adorable short by Muckpuddy Animation of New Zealand, and head to the link to check out the other three shorts that are as stylishly diverse as they are charming.

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The Addis family loves Legos…a lot. As in, this 100,000 brick Santa Dalek isn’t their only massive Christmas creation. Every year they make an equally impressive creation ranging from giant nutcrackers to mail boxes to angels. This year’s Dalek is certainly my personal favorite, but the rest are definitely worth a look.

Link Via BuzzFeed

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I’m not sure how many No Reservations fans we have here at Neatorama, but if you caught Bordain’s Christmas special, you’ll not that this animation was lacking from the final cut. That’s because executives found it a bit too creepy. Personally, I found the Samantha Brown scene to be far, far more terrifying than this animation, but she gives me the creeps anyway.

Via Laughing Squid

I would love having one of these in my house except that I couldn’t help but feel like I was counting down the days to my own EXTERMINATion rather than Christmas.

Link Via Craftzine

Most of the dogs in this gallery have an expression on their face that says “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?”, and all this dressing up business is clearly giving them a case of the holiday blues. Owners, don’t be surprised if these dogs have left some presents of their own in your shoes!

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This disturbing little assault on your senses comes courtesy of British animator Cyriak, who wants to put the cry back in Christmas. This is how he sees the holiday season- yams giving birth, and skulls sporting Santa hats that explode with new life. *shivers*

–via BoingBoing

These delightfully awful Christmas card photos put the hohoho! back in the holidays. If you don’t like the way you look in your photo this year, take a gander at this wacky gallery and feel better about yourself.

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It’s one thing to have a few nice decorations for your house at Christmas, but it’s another thing to try to give Clark Griswold a run for his money. While this post is labeled as “Cool Christmas Lights,” a lot of them are more tacky than cool.

Link Via Mental Floss

Super Heroes

They may not be the most artistic gingerbread creations, but these super hero designs by Sugar Swings are certainly adorable and they look absolutely delicious as well.

Russian Literary Greats

For those who like their gingerbread men to be a little less chipper and lot more serious, these figureheads of Russian culture by Craftster forum user Woolylogic are a good choice. Choose between Turgenev, Dostoyevsky (above), Tolstoy and Gogol.

Architectural Masterpieces

Sure anyone can make a one-room gingerbread shack, but turning a unique architectural design into a gingerbread creation takes a heck of a lot more skill. That’s why these great designs by real architecture firms went for so much money when they were auctioned off for charity. In fact, the one above, by Nick Milkovich Architects, Inc., sold for $610.

The Weasley Family Burrow

While this architectural marvel may not look familiar to everyone, Harry Potter fans will instantly recognize it as The Burrow, the adorably charming home of the Weasley clan. Creator mezcraft from the Craftster forums even added the special monogrammed sweaters Mrs. Weasley makes for each of her children at Christmas.

Hogwarts

Of course, the most iconic Harry Potter building is Hogwarts and Britta’s incredibly detailed gingerbread version is an impressive tribute to the majesty of the world-famous wizarding school. Best of all, she’s even got pictures of the entire arduous process so you could attempt to make your own at home…with a whole lot of time and dedication.

Up House

While the home in Pixar’s Up may not be as elaborate as Hogwarts, it is still certainly memorable enough to deserve its own gingerbread tribute, and this one, by Craftster forum user LawrenceKSRealEstate, is perfect, complete with its own set of giant balloons.

AT-AT

Have you ever wondered what would happen if an AT-At took a little off time to go walking through a winter wonderland? Rachel Klemek from the Black Market Bakery did and here’s the delightfully fun and disastrous results as photographed by Instagram user mommy_pants.

AT-AT

This is the only gingerbread creation with two incarnations here, but just look at this adorable design by Flickr user Chez 282 and you’ll realize why they both deserve to be on this list. While this one might not have the elaborate setting to go with it, it does feature far more decoration on the AT-AT itself.

Millennium Falcon

While this time lapse video by YouTube user FresoSweden doesn’t show you enough t instruct you to make your own fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy, it does show you just how much effort went in to making this gingerbread masterpiece.

Ewok Village

Yes, one last Star Wars gingerbread creation (there are a lot to choose from). Here’s an Ewok village complete with a Death Star sitting on the sky above. The Infinate Yums has detailed photos showing the entire time-consuming process.

Starship Enterprise

Don’t worry Star Trek fans, while we may not have as many gingerbread creations from this side of the sci fi spectrum, you can at least enjoy this great Starship Enterprise by Reddit user nem8.

Tardis

Of course, we also have a gingerbread creation from the favorite sci fi series on the other side of the pond. This gingerbread Tardis by LiveJournal user theruu is not only bigger on the inside, but it also comes with detailed instructions to make your own, including a recipe for the gingerbread and frosting.

Serenity

For those that prefer their sci-fi to be a little less mainstream, this Serenity gingerbread model is certain to impress the fans of the cult-favorite Firefly. If you want to make your own, there are plenty of how to pictures on the FaceBook page of its creator, Kristoffer Gressli.

Teracotta Army

History buffs need not be too jealous of sci fi fans. While you may not have as many gingerbread options, you can always content yourself with your own gingerbread version of China’s famous Terracotta army. These lovely little warriors were created by The Pastry Case bakery as part of the 2007 Nantwich Food and Drink Festival.

Ninjabread Men

In the long-standing war between pirates and ninjas, the sneaky assassins have one distinct advantage: they also come in butt-kicking gingerbread form. Sure you could probably style some regular gingerbread men to look like pirates, but they just aren’t going to be as cool as these ones that were specifically designed with ninja moves in mind. Alternatively, you can always get one of these great gingerbread zombies from the Neatoshop knowing they’ll never go bad.

Of course, if all of these gingerbread delights aren’t enough to satiate you, then feel free to go back and enjoy Stacy’s look at gingerbread masterpieces from 2008. As for you guys, have any of you ever made a geeky gingerbread creation or are you planning to try one out this year? If so, what was your gingerbread design?

Bigger isn’t always better, especially when it comes to holidays, but these 31 great Christmas and Chanukah decorations are certainly impressive, even if they aren’t completely functional.

Link

If you love Harry Potter, then you’d better celebrate your geek-interests with your own great golden snitch ornaments. They seem pretty easy to make as long as you just have a golden glass ornament, some tissue paper, wire and glitter -that means you could have tons of them on your tree if you want.

Link via Craftzine

The most expensive item on the list? Six swans a swimming that will run you $6,300. While the item measurements make sense, I just can’t fathom how eight maids a milking only costs $58 when nine ladies dancing goes for $6,294.03. I guess that’s why I’m not an economist.

Link Via Consumerist

Image Via cobalt123 [Flickr]

Zoos love to give their animals holiday treats, but for the most part, it’s just little more than a pumpkin. But this lemur feast at the San Francisco Zoo goes beyond the norm, providing the little guys with silver plates, candles, lovely centerpieces and a tasty meal.

Link Via Laughing Squid

Link Via Consumerist

Image via Dan4th [Flickr]

Game of Thrones

This fantasy epic is filled with so many delicious food and drink ideas that there is already more than one blog out there dedicated to creating the tasty treats in real life. Inn At The Crossroads is the best known of these blogs and the site even has a cookbook coming out soon.

For those looking to spice up their Thanksgiving with some kingly delights, may I recommend the Rack of Lamb in a Crust of Garlic and Herbs served with a cup of Salladhor Saans Hot Wine. If you’d like something a little more exotic for your main course though, the Grilled Snake, served with a spicy mustard sauce, looks rather delightful.

Dune

If you’re familiar with Dune, then you know that it is all about the spices. That being said, the two best recipes from this story are both beverages. Whether you prefer Spice Beer or Spice Coffee, I’m sure either one would make a great contribution to your Thanksgiving menu. Grumpy Frenchman suggests adding cinnamon to your beer for Spice Beer, but he also warns that that makes the foam go crazy, so pour accordingly. Meanwhile, GeekChill has a fantastic recipe for Spice Coffee that blends Chai tea, coffee and cinnamon –yum!

Lord of the Rings/ The Hobbit

Middle Earth is awash with great food and drink, but because most of Tolkien’s stories take place on the road, we tend to hear about the ones that are good for travel…which are not necessarily the most delicious treats around. That being said, while the hobbits seem to tire of Lembas bread, it is certainly the most delicious travel-friendly bread around and The Geeky Chef has a great recipe to make your own.

As for The Hobbit, the many mentions of seed cake seem to indicate that it is certainly one of Bilbo’s favorite foods and Historical Foods has an excellent recipe based on the time period for which Tolkien based the setting for his classic tales. That means, this seed cake is about as close to what Bilbo would eat as possible.

Harry Potter

Between the butterbeer, chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes, wizards and witches have quite a selection of tasty treats for any time of year. Of course, if there are any geek recipes that would actually go great with an otherwise traditional Thanksgiving feast, they would most certainly be Pumpkin Juice or Pumpkin Pasties. HarryPotterRecipes.Net has an absolutely delightful recipe for making your own Pumpkin Juice, sweetened with pineapple juice and spiced with a touch of nutmeg and allspice.

For your Pumpkin Pasties fix, stop by The Geeky Chef and try out this delicious recipe that imagines them as a sort of pumpkin-filled pastry…like pumpkin pie turnovers.

Star Wars

These films contain very few references to food. Even when the characters eat or drink, they never really seem to bring attention to what, exactly, they are putting in their mouths. That being said, Wookiee-Ookies are specifically mentioned in the Star Wars Holiday Special. Although they are best known for being a Christmas treat, they can undoubtedly still be served for Thanksgiving, just like eggnog.

You can find the recipe for these treats over on the website dedicated exclusively to the special, inventively called The Star Wars Holiday Special, and culled from The Star Wars Cookbook.

Firefly

Like Star Wars, while the characters on Firefly do eat and drink on screen, they rarely explain what it is they are actually eating. We know they get most of their vitamins through nutrient bars that can provide a month’s worth of nutrition to someone although they still need to drink water and ingest  calories, but aside from that, few foods are actually mentioned. A few exceptions are Mudder’s Milk, which is enjoyed in large quantities on Higgin’s Moon in the episode “Jaynestown,” and Ice Planets, which River Tam has difficulty eating in the episode “The Message.”

You can find a non-alcoholic version of Mudder’s Milk on the Firefly Wikia and learn how to make your own Ice Planet (essentially ice cream on a string) over on Tasty Planner.

Star Trek

Of course, geek Thanksgivings don’t have to ignore the turkey entirely. After all, in the Star Trek episode “Charlie X,” Captain Kirk is upset because he wants to celebrate Thanksgiving properly with a turkey, but there were none on board. Instead, the crew was going to have to eat meatloaf.

Strangely, while the meatloaf was cooking in the ovens, it suddenly transformed into turkey. It turns out that this was caused by Charles Evans, a young boy the crew recently brought on board, who has incredible powers. On the downside, he later uses those powers against everyone on board and tries to take over the ship, but hey, at least they got a nice Thanksgiving meal out of the ordeal. (For the record, yes, I know that is Picard and the Next Generation crew in the image, it was just the most holiday appropriate shot available.)

While you can always serve turkey as your main course and just reference this episode, you can also try blending the storyline in a little more and serve turkey meatloaf that has been cooked in a turkey-shaped baking pan.

What are your guy’s plans for Thanksgiving dinner? Are you planning to go traditional or do you guys like to mix things up a little more? Do any of you want to actually incorporate something from this article into your meal?

Jen Yates, of the blog Cake Wrecks, published the book Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong in 2009. The response was so great, she and her husband John went to work on a new book. That book, Wreck the Halls is available now. In it, you’ll find hundred of holiday cakes, 232 pages of them, that are doubly sweet: you get to laugh at them, and someone got to eat them. Here’s a sampling for you.

The book begins with just a couple of Halloween cakes, and quickly moves on to Thanksgiving. There’s an entire section of turkey cakes, both the feathered kind and the cooked kind, all looking like something besides turkeys. And some are mashed up with other Thanksgiving traditions.

But I was particularly drawn to this cornucopia.

Maybe because it reminded me of this guy:

In the midst of all this bounty, someone had to ruin the mood. In a high-calorie manner.

The largest number of Cake Wrecks are about Christmas, but there are plenty of other holidays represented, like Super Bowel Sunday.

Better watch what snacks you serve for the Super Bowel. You may have to Go Go Go!

And there’s Hanukah, although this baker wasn’t sure whether to use the nine lights of Hanukah or the seven candles of the non-Hanukah menorah, so he/she compromised and used eight. Then forgot how long a word “Hanukah” is. The book also features a lots of Hanukah cakes with the symbolic five-pointed stars.

Some non-holiday occasions are included, such as this festive going-away party cake.

And this science-fiction themed birthday cake. This is an example of a baker “making do,” although the recipient may have called it “making doo-doo.” Speaking of that, have you ever noticed how cakes that are supposed to have turkeys or reindeer as decorations made of icing tend to end up looking like poo? I didn’t realize that, until so many of them were collected together in the book Wreck the Halls.

Even if there weren’t winter holidays, we would celebrate snowfall. Just be sure to follow the advice of the sage Frank Zappa, and don’t you eat that yellow snow!

But of course, the real fun comes when a baker tries to make a cake look like Santa Claus. It may end up looking more like a Halloween zombie.

Or the ghost of Christmas …something.

I believe this one is supposed to be the Grinch from the Dr. Seuss story.

What is this? I don’t know!

These are just a very few samples from the huge collection of cake in the book Wreck the Halls: Cake Wrecks Gets “Festive”. Oh, there’s lots more. I had no idea there were that many ways to misspell “holidays,” much less “Christmas,” and even “merry.” Wreck the Halls is available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble,  and at a book store near you.

From Black Night (Chirstmas) to Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill!, they’ve got them all covered. I’m a little disappointed that Silent Night, Deadly Night, but they only used one movie per holiday.

Personally, I haven’t seen any movies on their list, but some of them certainly sound entertaining. Have you guys watched any of these?

Link

If watching all the fireworks shows last night got you wondering how those balls of light are actually created and manipulated, this great infographic can help fill you in on the details. Be sure to click the link to view the whole graphic.

Link

The Gesture’s Low Reaching Roots

Long before the high five, there was the low five, although, at the time it was known as “giving skin” and “slapping skin.” The low five started way back in the jazz age and while there seems to be no detailed record of how it was started, it was a fairly popular gesture amongst jazz musicians. This was immortalized throughout history when Al Jolson gives a low five in the 1927 film The Jazz Singer.

The 1941 Abbot and Costello film In the Navy takes note of this with the Andrews Sisters song, “Gimme Some Skin, My Friend.”

Slapping five continued to be a popular gesture in the African American culture and you can see black characters slapping hands in movies all the way up to blaxploitation films from the seventies

Making the Five High

Image via Outsports

The high five that most people credit as the first took place in 1977. It was exchanged between Dusty Baker and Glen Burke at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. Burke gave Baker a raised hand to slap in celebration after Baker scored a home run.

Murray State University basketball player Lamont Sleets has challenged this story though, claiming that he developed the gesture while playing on his college team in the 1960’s. This isn’t the only high five challenge between basketball and baseball players. A number of basketballers claim to have started using the term “high five” during their 1979/1980 season. University of Louisville baseball player Derek Smith disputes this though and claims that he is the originator of the term.

No matter who originated or named it though, the gesture was an immediate success in sports circles as soon as Baker and Burke’s slap was seen around the country. It was soon being used by teams across the country, most notably the 1980 Louisville Cardinals basketball team, who high fived each other throughout their run for the title and helped bring it to the forefront of American consciousness.

Image via bgubitz [Wikipedia]

By 1980, the noun “high five” was in the Oxford English Dictionary and by 1981, it was added as a verb as well.

Making A Good Thing Into A National Holiday

In the eighties, the gesture took on a life of its own and it seemed like every sitcom character was high fiving someone at least once per episode. It isn’t surprising that the high five took a dive in popularity through the nineties and popular culture tried to cleanse itself of the over saturation of the gesture. Even so, the high five has always continued to have its fans and in 2002, three University of Virginia Students decided to give the high five its due.

The three students decided they wanted to start their own holiday and they agreed that honoring the lost art of the high five would be the perfect reason to celebrate. The ultimate goal of the holiday was to better people’s days by giving high fives to strangers, who might then be inspired to give high fives to others. While the headquarters of the holiday started on the university campus, it quickly spread thanks to the power of the internet.

By 2005, the idea had gained enough momentum that the City of San Diego actually agreed to recognize National High Five Day as an official city celebration. (Being a long-term resident of America’s Finest City, I admit that I was highly upset that I had never heard of the city’s decree until I started writing this article.)

So now that you know about National High Five Day and about the gesture’s respectable origin story, it is up to you, dear readers to spread the word, and the skin. Share your support of high fives on April 21 and every day. Just remember to do it sparingly. After all, an overused high five is worse than no high five at all and we don’t want this great cultural connection to fade away every again.

Sources: Wikipedia, High Five Me, National High Five Project

Peep Show

This classic, sexy Peep diorama is probably the most famous ever made as it has spread its way across the internet for years. The oldest version I could find comes from Flickr user Amenhotep4, but I don’t think he’s the creator of the diorama. If you know were it comes from, please let me know in the comments.

Sweety Todd: The Demon Barber of Peep Street

This diorama by Flickr user mreraser’s friends Matt and Teresa is by far one of my favorites. There is so much detail in the decorations and I can’t help but love the blood on the decapitated Peeps and the maniacal look on Sweety Todd’s face.

We Come In Peeps

This adorable diorama was created by Dan Paddock and sent in directly to BoingBoing after the site posted this bizarre and slightly scary fake magazine cover called “Rest In Peeps, Anna Nichole Smith.”

Alien Peeps

Of course, not all alien travelers are peaceful as Daniel Spiess made clear in his chest-burstingly scary Peeps diorama, which was based on the movie Alien.

Peeparassic Park

This Peep-filled tribute to Jurassic Park by Flickr user babelglyph was so massive that one photo couldn’t capture the full detail. This Jeep attack shot is my favorite of the series as it shows just how terrifying the dinosaur attacks actually were.

The Village Peeps

This disco-themed diorama by Flickr user Chris Williams is great, but perhaps the best detail is the adorable little hats the Village Peeps are wearing.

Bacon Peeps

If you love bacon then you’re sure to love the bacon peeps featured on the Peeps Diorama Contest blog.

Fail Peeps

Twitter lovers everywhere are sure to recognize this symbol of failure, recreated in Peep form on the Peeps Diorama Contest blog.

David & Golipeep

That same contest blog also brought us this brilliant recreation of the classic biblical story of David versus Goliath. Golipeep is one intimidating marshmallow character, he almost looks like he should be the villain in a Ghostbusters movie instead.

Anniversary Apollo Peeps

If you think working at NASA was all serious science with no time for fun and games, you are wrong my friend. This adorable Apollo 40^th Anniversary diorama was put together by the space program’s printing and design team.

Peepcropsy

Ever wonder what the organs of the little sugary sweet candies must look like? Flickr users Ben+Sam did, which led to the creation of this detailed Peeps autopsy lab.

The Peeple vs. Scott Walker

This Peep version of the Wisconsin protests is so accurate that it actually incited quite the debate between our Neatorama commenters, just like the real protests. It was first uploaded by escapetochengdu, but it’s hard to say if he made it and, if not, who the real creator is.

Office Olypeeps

If you’re a fan of the office, then you’ll love The Office Peeps Contest held at Office Tally. While this one didn’t win, it’s still my favorite, not least of all because I absolutely love that episode.

If you’re interested in checking out more, the biggest Peeps diorama contest is the one hosted by The Washington Post, so you can see their past winners and current entries by clicking the link. And, of course, feel free to share any links to dioramas you have made at home.

Albatrosses

If you’re looking for the animal mating ritual that most closely resembles human dating, don’t look to primates, even mammals, instead, check out the albatross. These massive seabirds take a long time to reach sexual maturity –up to 10 years in some species, but they certainly don’t make up for it by rushing into a relationship. When they first start coming to the breeding colonies, young birds sit back and learn from their elders, observing the specie’s elaborate mating rituals that include dancing, preening, staring, pointing, and vocalizations. After years of trial and error, the birds learn to participate in these mating rituals. They will then start dancing with many partners, but year after year, they will trim down their dance card until they have selected the one partner they want to be with for the rest of their lives.

Once the partner is chosen, the pair will develop their own unique language comprised of bits of their mating ritual. Interestingly, once they have mated, they will never use most of the ritual again. While it seems like a massive undertaking, egg laying and chick rearing is a major time investment for albatrosses and the couples do everything they can to ensure they will be a successful mating pair.

Source

Great Hornbills

While most birds are monogamous, few are quite as dependent on their mates as the female hornbill is on the male. The couple gets in the mood by singing duets together. The male starts the tune, then the female jumps in and the calls then join in unison. The pair will occupy a large nest inside the hollow of a massive tree. Once the eggs are laid and fertilized, the female will then seal herself in the nest. The male will then provide food for her and her chicks through a small hole in the nest. This goes on for about two months, then the female will leave the nest, sealing up the chicks inside. The mother and father will then take turns bringing the chicks food until they are grown enough to break the seal and survive on their own.

Source

Lovebirds

Of course lovebirds belong on this list, just look at their name. But what makes this specific parrot species so darn romantic that they are often given as wedding presents to symbolize the couple’s lifelong commitment to one another? Like most birds, lovebirds are monogamous, but its their habit of sitting beside another and cuddling that has made them such a strong image of love. Their tight pairings led the ancient Greeks to believe the birds would die if they lost their mates.

The peach-faced lovebirds find a partner when they are two months old. The female fluffs up her feathers to tell the male that she is interested and he then starts to perform a courtship dance that involves bobbing his head and scratching her head.

Once the couple lays eggs, the female will incubate the nest while the male goes out to get her food. When the chicks hatch, the dad gets the food, feeds it to the mother who then regurgitates the meal for the chicks.

Sources: #1 and #2

Brolgas

All cranes are monogamous and they all have their own intricate mating dances, but the brogla’s are particularly fascinating. They mate with their partners every year, often in the same nesting area, but no matter how long they’ve been together, they always keep the passion flowing, performing their intricate mating dance every year. Just how complex is this ritual? Well, there is a reason it is considered the most elaborate mating dance in the animal kingdom.

The dances generally start with a bird picking up a clump of grass and tossing it in the air and catching it in its mouth. Then the dance starts to involve jumping, extending wings, stretching bowing, walking calling and head bobbing. Sometimes only one bird will dance, sometimes a pair will dance together, in other situations, the whole colony will jump in, starting up a massive brogla dance club.

Sources: #1 and #2

Seahorses

You may already know that male seahorses are the ones who carry the litter, but did you know they go through an intimate courtship first? They hold tails, swim snout to snout and change colors to show one another that they are ready for romance. This process can last for days before the pair engages in a courtship dance that lasts up to eight hours.

Once the male is pregnant, the female sticks around until he gives birth. She visits him every morning, holding his tail, changing colors and flirting with him to ensure that he will continue to nurture the eggs until they hatch.

Source Image via San Diego Shooter [Flickr]

Garden Snails

These slimy garden pests may not seem too romantic, particularly when you consider the fact that they are hermaphrodites, but they just may have inspired the Greek tales of cupid. Although snails are hermaphrodites, they require another partner to lay eggs. Their courtship process largely comes down to the animals circling one another and firing off “love darts” at each other, one third of which miss the target. The mucus-covered darts stimulate the animal’s female reproductive organs so they can hold more sperm. Once the darts are in place, the partners trade sperm cells for as long as six hours.

Next time you hear stories of the arrow-shooting cherub, just imagine a giant snail shooting darts before copulation. For some reason it’s just not as good of a Valentine’s Day card though.

Source Image via nutmeg66 [Flickr]

Prairie Voles

Most rodents are far from romantic, but the prairie vole is one of a handful of monogamous creatures that fall under the title. The male voles will move in with their first girlfriend and stick with her for the rest of their lives. During mating season, they will mark their territory and defend it from any trespassers by chattering its teeth and raising its arms. The male is particularly aggressive towards females who attempt to enter the territory and will even attack potential home wreckers. The happy couple will not only share pup-raising, but also groom each other and huddle together for warmth.

Sources: #1 and #2

Bonobos

While the other animals on this list are romantic in their monogamous relationships, bonobos are romantic in an entirely different manner. These primates copulate while facing each other and to participate in open mouth kissing. If the other creatures represent our ideal life-long bond of romance, bonobos personify our most popular forms of physical intimacy. I think it’s important we look at these factors too. After all, we don’t just fall in love, we also “make love.”

Source Image via CourtneyBolton [Flickr]

I don’t know about all of you, but this article sure put me in a romantic mood. Who needs wine and roses when you can dance like a crane, sing like an albatross and shoot love darts like a snail?

Austria:

Austrian children still get to celebrate the arrival of Ol’ Saint Nick, but they also have to brace themselves for the arrival of his evil counterpart, Krampus. Where Saint Nicholas rewards good behavior with treats and toys on December 6, the demonic Krampus arrives on December 5, looking to punish all the bad children. His weapons of choice are birch switches to beat children with and burlap sacks to kidnap them and throw them into the river.

The worst part is that local men actually dress up like Krampus (just like many men dress up as Santa in America) and terrorize the streets. In some villages, kids are even made to run what is known as a Krampus-gauntlet, in an attempt to outrun the switches.

Czech Republic:

The Czech version of Saint Nick is known as Svaty Mikulas, who is said to climb down to Earth from the heavens using a golden rope. Mikulas is accompanied by an angel and a devil who help him decide which girls and boys deserve treats and toys, and which ones deserve a swatch.

There are a lot of fortune-telling traditions that are associated with Christmas as well. One involves a family member cutting a branch from a cherry tree and putting it inside in water. If it blooms in time for Christmas it is good luck. It also may represent that the winter will be short, or if a single woman picked the branch, it could mean she will get married in the next year.

On Christmas Eve, single woman also try to see if they will get married in the next year by standing outside with their back to their front door, removing one of their shoes and throwing it over their shoulder. If the shoe lands with the toe facing the door, then she will marry in the next year. If not, she will have to wait at least another 12 months.

Image via tomu [Flickr]

Finland:

Finnish people honor their departed loved ones on Christmas Eve by visiting the cemeteries and leaving candles on the graves of their family members. If they live too far away to visit their loved one’s graves, most graveyards have an area you can light a candle to remember those buried in other cemeteries. The soft snow and gentle glow of the candles make graveyards a very beautiful place to visit on Christmas Eve.

Image via Aki Hannien [Flickr]

France:

Children of East France have an evil visitor, similar to Krampus, to keep them behaving all year long. Le Pere Fouettard, which translates into “The Whipping Father,” accompanies Saint Nicolas in on December 6. While St. Nick gives good children presents, Le Pere Fouettard gives coal and whippings to the naughty children. One of the most popular origin stories of the character say that he was a greedy inn keeper who killed three rich boys on their way to boarding school. In many versions of the story, he even eats the children. Whether or not he cannibalizes the boys, the story ends when Saint Nick finds out and resurrects the children and forces Le Pere Fouettard to act as his servant throughout time.

Aside from The Whipping Father, another popular French tradition involves making a cake that looks like a traditional Yule log, known as buche de Noel. Christmas trees never really caught on in the country and while most people don’t have any use for an actual Yule log, the cake is a fun and festive substitute. Some of the buche de Nol can get fairly elaborate and even involve meringue mushrooms and edible flower decorations.

Image via andshewas [Flickr]

Germany:

Belsnickel is the German Santa’s dark enforcer, but he’s not nearly as evil as Krumpus or The Whipping Father. Instead he just wears fur from head to toe and gives good girls and boys candy and bad children coal and switches.

Many are decorated with a wreath known as an “Adventskranz.” These wreaths have four candles which serve as a sort of weekly advent calendar, as each Sunday marks the opportunity to light a new candle.

On December 21, St. Thomas Day is believed to be the shortest day of the year and anyone who arrives late to work is called a “Thomas Donkey.” They are also given a cardboard donkey and made fun of throughout the rest of the day.

Like many places in Europe, the Christmas tree is kept secret from the children until Christmas Eve. The parents bring the tree in, decorate it with candies, tinsel, lights and toys, put presents and plates of candy treats under the tree and then ring a bell signaling that the children can enter. The children then get to eat snacks and the whole family opens presents.

Greece:

Saint Nicholas is one of the most popular saints in Greece because he is the patron saint of sailors. For this reason, their Saint Nicholas is hardly the fur-wearing man celebrated by other cultures. Instead, he is depicted as being soaked with seawater and sweaty from working too hard to save ships.

Like France, Christmas trees never really caught on here. Instead, residents will fill a shallow bowl with water and then tie wire with a wooden cross and a sprig of basil over the bowl. Once a day the cross and basil are dipped into holy water, which is then sprinkled through the house. This ceremony is used to keep out goblins, known as  Killikantzaroi out of the house. These mischievous goblins that come from the center of the earth only appear during the twelve days of Christmas. While bratty, they’re not really evil and tend to do bratty things like souring milk and extinguishing fires. Because they are said to enter the house through the fireplace, fires are left burning all day and night during this time of year.

Image via Martin Beek [Flickr]

Iceland:

Icelandic children were once told to behave or they would be eaten by a pair of ogres that lived up in the hills. The characters were considered to be so terrifying that a public decree banned the use of these stories to scare children into behaving.  Instead of talking about the ogre couple, parents instead started telling stories of the ogre’s children, the Jolasveinar, who are bad, but not nearly as evil as their parents.

Jolasveinars were originally said to play tricks on people and steal food, but now they are responsible for giving gifts to children. Bad children don’t get presents though, they get potatoes or other items that remind them that they weren’t forgotten, but don’t deserve real presents.

Image via Gunna [Flickr]

Italy:

In Italy, there is no Santa, but instead there a woman called a Befana that performs the general duties of Saint Nick. The story is that the three wise men stopped during their travels and asked a woman for food and shelter. She said no, but later realized her mistake when it was too late. She now travels the earth looking for the baby Jesus and on Januaray 6^th, she leaves kids a sock filled with candy or a lump of coal.

Image via Wooliedales [Flickr]

Japan:

While most Japanese residents are not Christian, the majority of people still celebrate Christmas just for the fun of it. Unsurprisingly, the rituals are slightly different than those we are used to. Because KFC has marketed the idea that fried chicken is the traditional meal for the holidays, the restaurants are so busy on Christmas Day that reservations are required.

Most of the holiday celebrations revolve around romantic love more than family relationships and bakeries even sell cakes for sweethearts.

Children still have a Santa figure though, only in this case, he is a traditional Japanese god who is known for his generosity. Hoteiosho is a heavy-set Buddhist priest who carries a large sack of presents. Children know they have to be good because Hoteiosho has eyes in the back of his head.

Image via sleepytako [Flickr]

Netherlands:

The Netherland’s Christmas traditions are subject to a lot of controversy as their version of Santa, Sinterklaas, is accompanied by a one-time slave known as Black Peter. These days, the Dutch try to play down the racism of the matter by claiming that Black Peter’s cartoonish appearance is a result of his going down dirty chimneys all the time and he’s no longer referred to as a slave, but a “helper.”

The naughty man in blackface is a mischievous character who may kidnap naughty children and whisk them away to his home in Spain.

Image via Gerald Stolk onderweg naar kerst [Flickr]

Norway:

Norwegian folklore says that Christmas Eve is kind of like Halloween and brings about a number of evil spirits and witches. The brooms of the houses are hidden to keep them away from witches and men will often go outside and shoot their guns to ward off evil spirits.

Pagan winter celebrations used to revolve around Thor’s pet goat and a person would arrive at the parties wearing a goatskin and carrying a goat head. He would eventually fake his death and then return to life. As Christianity started to take over the area, the goat was recast as a form of the devil and he was eventually banned. Since then, the goat character was morphed into Julebukk, a “yule goat.” The new story of the goat involved him traveling from door to door where he would get gifts for keeping the evil spirits away. Nowadays, kids dress up and play the role of the Julebukk, where they get treats as they visit the houses.

Slavic Europe:

Most Slavic countries don’t rely on Saint Nick for presents, but instead count on Ded Moroz, which translates to “Grandfather Frost”. He’s a magical character who delivers presents on New Year’s Eve. He was banned at the start of the Communist Revolution, but because he wasn’t officially a Christmas character, Stalin allowed him to come back, only he was required to wear blue so he wouldn’t be confused with Santa Claus. In modern times, this ruling has been reversed and he can wear any color he wants.

Spain:

Spain’s celebrations vary greatly depending on the region. In the Basque regions, the Santa role is filled by Olentzero, a fat man in a beret who smokes a pipe. He used to be an enforcer against naughty children who was said to throw a sickle down the chimney to cut the throats of kids who didn’t sleep. Nowadays though, he is a positive character like Santa that only brings good presents.

In the Catalan region, families “feed” a little log called a “Caga tio” every night from the 8^th to the 23^rd. On Christmas Eve, the family hits the log with a stick to release sweet treats that have been hidden in his hollow center. If you hadn’t guessed yet, “Caga tio” translates to “pooping log.” The celebration ends when the log poops out something decidedly not sweet, usually a dried herring, an onion or a head of garlic.

Catalans must enjoy poop jokes because aside from their pooping log, they also celebrate with a “Caganer,” a nativity scene character that is seen to be pooping in the corner of the scene.

Image via Greg Gladner [Flickr]

Ukraine:

While the story about German families hiding a pickle ornament on their tree is false, Ukrainians actually do hide a spider web ornament on their tree and it is supposed to be good luck for the person who finds it. The story behind the tradition is that an old widow had no money to decorate her tree and went to bed upset that her children would have an undecorated tree the next day. While she was asleep, a spider decorated the tree with a beautiful web. When the first light of day hit the webs, they turned to silver and gold and the widow and her children never went longing again.

Image via boliyou [Flickr]

Venezuela:

Venezuelans celebrate Christmas similar to many other cultures, in that they generally go to mass early on Christmas Day. The difference is that Venezuelans go to church in roller skates. In the capital, Caracas, streets are even closed off to traffic in order to keep the skaters safe. On Christmas Eve, children tie strings to their toes and let them dangle into the street, where they are tugged on by skaters as they go by. It’s certainly a different way to wake up on Christmas morning.

Image via Cheesy42 [Flickr]

Remember that in all countries, celebrations and traditions can vary greatly by region, so if you have lived in any of these countries and not experienced a tradition named on this list, it may just be experienced elsewhere. Also, this list is nowhere near extensive, so if you celebrate differently (even if it’s just a strange tradition that only occurs in your family) share your experiences in the comments!

Sources: Mental Floss #1, #2, Etsy, Soon, The North Pole #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, My Little Norway, Wikipedia, MSN #1, #2, #3, MSI Chicago #1, #2, #3

In many ways though, the creation of this holiday magic is even more amazing than the actual displays. Here’s the details that go into transforming a park from a Halloween harvest theme to a Christmas wonderland.

Image via Armidillo444 [Flickr]

The Christmas Tree:

Every year since its opening, Disneyland features a sixty foot tall Christmas tree that towers over Main Street. Up until 2008, live trees were driven in all the way from Mount Shasta, but since then the park has opted to go green and use an artificial pine that was specially designed by Disney’s Imagineering team. The tree is 65 feet tall, as 5 feet of it sits underground for support. It has over 1,200 branches with a total of 280,000 pine needles which are decorated with 2000 ornaments and 75,000 lights. The electrical cable needed to light all of the lights weighs an astonishing 5,000 pounds.

During the majority of the year, the tree is kept in a warehouse away from the park, but in October, they transport all six pieces of it to the park in the middle of the night. The tree is then put together in the back area of the park, the lights are applied and technicians test the light show. Once they are sure it’s ready to go, they take it apart into two sections. In early November, the 12 ton tree is then moved into place in Main Street using 15 cast members and two cranes.

The tree isn’t the only decorative touch in Main Street though. Throughout Disneyland, the park uses more than 1.5 miles of garland and over 2,000 feet of this is used on Main Street alone. Main Street also features 812 bows, which require 1.4 miles worth of ribbon to create.

Image via Andy Castro [Flickr]

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle:

The iconic castle is redone for wintertime, with a fresh layer of artificial snow and 50,000 lights, including hanging icicles that light up during the nighttime shows. The castle is the central part of a three-part show that takes place every night. The first part of the show occurs at twilight when the sound of wind blowing enters the air followed by a child wishing for snow. A motherly voice is heard to respond, “in order for your wishes to come true, you must believe.” Just then, snow machines blast out icy flurries and the castle lights up with its snow glistening.

Later on, the fireworks show starts and the child is again heard wishing for snow. Then the lights on the castle get even brighter as the snow begins falling again. The fireworks then kick off and just as they approach the grand finale and White Christmas starts to play, the icicles light up and then snow falls in Main Street, New Orlean’s Square and the Small World mall.

Image via Andy Castro [Flickr]

It’s A Small World:

We’ve already talked about how The Haunted Mansion is changed to a Nightmare Before Christmas theme throughout Halloween, but that’s not the only ride to be altered during Christmas time. It’s A Small World is also redone to reflect the holiday spirit. Instead of singing the classic song that provides the ride with its namesake, the children throughout the world sing ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Deck the Halls.’ The exterior of the ride is covered in 300,000 Christmas lights and the large clock in the center is decked out with a Santa hat. After dark the façade features a multi-media presentation projection every fifteen minutes.

Big Thunder Ranch is also modified for the holidays, as it provides Santa and his reindeer a relaxing place to stay just before he rushes around the world to deliver toys.

Image via Wikipedia user Lyght

The Parade:

Every year, the park also features “A Christmas Fantasy parade.” While certain aspects of the parade change every year, it always starts with a music box float featuring a ballerina, which is followed by toy soldiers playing snare drums and trumpets. The Winter Wonderland part of the parade features Tigger, Eeyore and Winnie the Pooh riding and pulling sleighs while Mickey and Minnie skate on an ice rink float. Clarabelle Cow, Goofy and Max all work together to bake gingerbread cookies. Cinderella and the other princesses and their respective princes dance together on a ballroom float. Next, toys of all kinds walk and roll by, led by Chip and Dale, members of Toy Story and Pinocchio. At the very end of the parade, Santa rides by in his sled, wishing Merry Christmas to all the good girls and boys.

Image via Armadillo444 [Flickr]

Are you planning to visit any theme parks during the holiday season? If so, which one(s)? Do any of our Orlando-favoring readers fill us in on the details of the Magic Kingdom’s Christmas celebrations?

Sources: Wikipedia #1, #2, About.com, WDW Info, West Ways Magazine

Disneyland fans! See more Neatorama Facts:

Neatorama Facts: Haunted Mansion

Neatorama Facts: Sleeping Beauty Castle

Neatorama Facts: Pirates of the Caribbean

Neatorama Facts: The Jungle Cruise

Neatorama Facts: Space Mountain

Neatorama Facts: The Enchanted Tiki Room

Because pumpkins are one of the most critical elements of Halloween decorations and because there are about a billion pumpkin galleries online, the first half of our decoration ideas focus exclusively on Jack-O-lanterns. If you’ve already got your carving planned or are sick of looking at orange sculptures, then feel free to skip further down.

LED Lights:

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When you want to do something more techy, try making your own LED pumpkin with an artificial pumpkin wired with lights and controlled externally so you can change the expression at will.

Dark detecting:

To take LED lights to a new level, you can always try installing circuitry that will tell your pumpkin to turn on when it is dark. While I haven’t seen this done, I think a motion detecting light would also be pretty awesome. Any readers want to give it a shot?

Snap-o-lantern:

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When you want to go a step beyond LED lights, try buying a mini-pumpkin and engineering it to snap its mouth at passers by. This is also a good decoration for your cubicle since it doesn’t take up much space but is sure to get a lot of attention.

Robo:

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While there are plenty of pumpkins that look like robots, this is the only one I have seen so far that actually is a robot.

Steampunk:

I know you Neatonauts are torn on the whole steampunk thing, but those who do like the art form are sure to appreciate this awesome steampunk pumpkin.

Angler fish:

For those of you who like to carve your pumpkins to look like animals, this angler fish pumpkin is not only a favorite animal of geeks everywhere, but it also makes an impressive looking pumpkin.

Dalek:

I have to admit, this Dalek pumpkin just might be my favorite carving of all time. I’m sure other dalekmaniacs will agree.

Pac Man:

While these are technically not pumpkins, the hard-shells of gourds make an excellent jack-o-lantern and the shapes of these two lent themselves perfectly to the artist’s concept.

Star Wars:

As you probably know, there are a ton of awesome Star Wars pumpkins out there. Rather than try to post a whole bunch of them, let me share this gallery of them instead.

Video Games:

Similarly, there are a ton of video game pumpkins, so here’s a link to another gallery filled with them. The picture here is my personal favorite, but yours will probably vary based on your favorite game.

Simpsons:

If you prefer geeking out with the Simpsons, don’t miss the chance to check out these awesome pumpkin artworks.

Geeky Pumpkins:

While this gallery has a few pictures seen in the other three above, the browser and operating system pumpkins are something every geek can appreciate.

Templates Gallery:

If you want to make your own geeky pumpkin but can’t freestyle a design, then be sure to take advantage of this excellent collection courtesy of Think Geek.

Extreme Pumpkins:

While I don’t condone the idea of paying someone else to carve pumpkins for you, professional carver Tom Nardone’s Extreme Pumpkins website has some great tips for carving your own pumpkins, as well as some really amazing examples of his past work. He even has a great selection of free pumpkin templates. If you really like his work, you can buy his excellent how-to book, “Extreme Pumpkins” on Amazon.

Now, as promised, here are some geeky non-pumpkin decorating tips.

Skelevision:

By using a two-way mirror, a motion detector, a light and a skeleton, you can easily create a creepy surprise for trick or treaters.

Ghost Projections:

Another cool, creepy geektastic project are these awesome projections that instantly fill your home with spooky ghosts.

Charred Corpse:

If you really want a fake skeleton to look scary, you need to go a step beyond. By using some paint and a few other basic products, you can convert a plain skeleton into a truly creepy charred corpse.

Papercraft Skulls:

For a truly geeky skeleton though, try making this awesome papercraft skull project.

Origami skeleton:

For another paper project, you can also try making a full skeleton with nothing more than folded paper if you follow these exceptionally complex directions.

Tree Faces:

When you’re looking for cool Halloween decorations that aren’t too creepy for youngsters, these tree faces can cheer up your yard with a surprising twist.

Cobweb Shooter:

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While spider webs are a pretty traditional Halloween decoration, there’s never been a cooler way to spread them out than to use a cool cobweb shooter like this one.

Thumb thumb drive:

If you want to decorate your cubicle and snapping pumpkins and spider webs aren’t enough, try investing in this dismembered thumb thumb drive. It’s not only eerie, it’s also punny.

Web Master:

If you really think your cubicle is a gateway into hell, then this silly webmaster set up is a perfect way to show everyone just how terrifying life in the office really is.

Helicopter and Plane Crashes:

If you’ve got a pretty large budget, decking out your front yard to look like either a helicopter or plane crash is a pretty cool way to go, but it might be a good idea to ask your neighbors about putting a real broken aircraft in your yard first.

Flying Saucer:

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For a really geeky twist though, try going for a flying saucer instead. This one even rises and falls and has a special visitor pop in and out vehicle.

Toxic Waste Drum:

Even if you happen to work in a power plant or other area where you could take home toxic waste drums to decorate, it’s best to avoid breaking the law and risking the health of everyone in the immediate area and make a fake one instead.

If you decorate your house for Halloween, you may have some of your own cool geeky tips, so please share.

Best Costume Based Around A Wheelchair: Darth Vader Tie Fighter

If you thought wheelchair-bound people couldn’t have any fun on Halloween, think again. This tie fighter costume takes advantage of the chair and incorporates it into an undeniably cool Star Wars costume.

Best Geeky Pregnancy Costume: Darth Vader With Death Star

The Darth Vader with his Death Star costume might not be the most elaborate Star Wars costume, but it makes up for lack of complexity with comfort and the use of the baby bump to fill in the Death Star is just brilliant.

Best Utterly Insane Star Wars Costume: Luke Skywalker on A Tauntaun

We’ve all seen our share of hokey, horse-riding costumes, but using expansion foam to construct an incredibly realistic looking tauntaun with Luke Skywalker on top is a whole different story.

Best Transformers Costume: Transforming Transformer

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There are tons of Transformers costumes out there and while most of them are pretty cool, few of them look so convincing when transformed into a car.

Best Pet Costume Made From Trash: Cardboard U.S.S. Enterprise

Yes, this Star Trek dog costume is geeky, and yes the dog does look cute in a sad way. But no, this costume isn’t a good idea. And no, he won’t like having cardboard and beer cans taped to his back.

Best Comic Book Villain Costume: Doctor Octopus

Sure you could be Kingpin, Two-Face or Mystique, but none of those characters have awesome arms growing out of their back like Doctor Octopus. It’s a way cooler look to carry around your enemy on your back.

Best Steampunk Superhero Costume: Steampunk Iron Man

Sure he might need to change his name to Copper Man in this Jules Verne-inspired take on the classic Marvel hero, but it doesn’t make the character any less cool.

Best Adult Videogame Costume: Big Daddy From Bioshock

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This Big Daddy costume is amazing in that it not only looks exactly like the characters in the videogame, but the left arm drill actually spins thanks to the help of a hidden electric drill inside the costume.

Best Child Videogame Costume: Mega Man

It takes one dedicated dad to put something like this together for his three year old, but if you have the dedication and technical proficiency, you can follow The Aging Gamer’s instructions on how to put together a Mega Man costume for your little one.

Best Console Costume: Working Gameboy

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This Gameboy costume has a working monitor on it displaying Tetris, even better, the game can be controlled with the buttons on the costume.

Best New School Cat Meme Costume: Spaghetti Cat

The best thing about this weird meme costume is that the original cat in the video looked so fake and awkward, just like this woman.

Best Website Costumes: Google Tube and YouTube

I think the best thing about these two costumes is the intricate background details behind the “actors,” which really gives a 3D feeling to the video area of the page.

Best Nature Costume: Webbegong Shark

Most kids who dress as animals choose dog or cat costumes, but this webbegong shark costume is not only unique, but incredibly accurate as well. The little two year-old was obsessed with the sharks and his seamstress mother was more than happy to indulge in his interests.

What was your favorite costume ever? Do you know what you’ll be this year?

You’ll notice some of the flavors seen on other lists, like lychee, red bean and sesame, are not included here, as they are everyday dessert flavors in their country, and therefore, not all that strange as an ice cream flavoring. Instead, this article focuses on those flavors that make even the most native-son of a given region ask “what the heck were you thinking?”

Something’s Fishy

Agutuk

It could be debated whether or not this North American frozen treat is technically an ice cream, being as how it’s made without any cream or even vegan-friendly cream substitutes, but its nickname, “Eskimo Ice Cream” and its shocking ingredients certainly qualify it to be on this list. So what’s in agutuk? Snow, berries, seal oil and reindeer fat. If cute animals make delicious food, then this has got to be the best ice cream around.

Image via Andrea Pokrzywinski [Flickr]

Crab

As for more traditional ice creams with non-traditional flavors, this savory crab ice cream is described as more of a frozen crab bisque than what you would normally think of as ice cream.

Lobster

The lobster ice cream seems a lot more along the lines of a traditional American dessert product, as it has a sugary butter base with chunks of sweet lobster blended in. A Massachusetts dessert parlor started making the treat just to prove that they actually do concoct their own flavors. Surprisingly, the flavor took off and is now one of the most popular items served.

Caviar

For an equally luxurious treat, consider the caviar ice cream by Philippe Faur. If that’s not your style, he also makes mustard, Roquefort, black truffles, pepper and foie gras flavor as well. Unlike the lobster ice creams, these aren’t meant for dessert though, they are actually intended as a side dish or appetizer to tantalize the senses and prepare you for accompanying flavors to come.

Oyster

Apparently luxurious savory ice creams aren’t actually a modern trend, but an old time classic that has been long forgotten about. Lorraine Eaton discovered and posted a recipe for oyster ice cream that dates back to 1824 and was supposedly a popular treat amongst the upper classes in the time of the Revolutionary War. The dish itself is essentially just an oyster stew with the oysters strained out. Reviews from Eaton’s recreation of the dish seem fairly mixed and one tester nearly vomited after tasting it, but it would certainly be a brave appetizer for those who want to feel a gourmet connection with the founding fathers.

Shrimp

If you’re looking for a customizable fish-based ice cream, better head to Cold Stone Creamery in Florida’s Fernandina Beach during the local shrimp fest to try their shrimp ice cream with your choice of mix-ins. Apparently, the light flavor of shrimp makes this base a perfect compliment to tropical fruits like pineapple and coconut.

Octopus, Squid Ink and Eel

The Japanese are known for being very open to new flavors. In fact, ice cream itself is even a fairly recent addition to the national palate, which is why they are so open to experimenting with flavor combinations most Americans could never even imagine. Some fun flavors you might be afraid to try include octopus, squid ink and eel. Supposedly the octopus flavor isn’t too bad and it doesn’t have any chunks in it unless you buy it garnished with tentacles. Squid ink has a rather mild flavor, so the pitch black sweet also gets fairly high ratings, even from non-natives.

On the other hand, eel seems to be limited to those with more “acquired tastes” for the fish and is said to taste incredibly fishy, or as one reviewer put it, “imagine a section of the ocean where about eight thousand very large sea creatures have died and started to decompose.” I’m all for exotic tastes, but this is one I think I’d have to pass on.

Images via wilhelmja [Flickr], Katherine Donaldson [Flickr] and Associated Content

Where’s The Meat?

Beef Tongue, Pit Viper and Horse

The same Japanese ice cream company that brought you the aforementioned fishy flavors has also concocted many out of land-dwelling creatures, including cows, snakes and horses, yes, horses. All three flavors were present at The Yokohama Ice Cream Expo and Beef tongue was surprisingly one of the most popular flavors at the entire convention.

Pit vipers are one of the most deadly snakes in Japan, but they are also considered an aphrodisiac, which is perhaps the only reason an ice cream was made from them, as the flavor is said to be pretty nasty.

Perhaps the most disturbing of the ice creams though, at least to Western sensibilities, is the raw horse flesh ice cream, which is as disturbing as it sounds: a vanilla ice cream with chunks of uncooked horse meat. Apparently, it is not entirely uncommon to see horse meat served in Japanese restaurants as a type of sashimi.

Images via foxypar4 [Flickr], Kat the Acrobat [Vox] and Andrea RF [WordPress]

Taste The British Isles

Don’t think the Japanese are the only ones to make gross flavors of ice cream. Master ice cream maker Gino Soldan recently made headlines when he made creamy desserts from some of the best-known British cuisines, including haggis, pork pie, shortbread and sausages with mash. Soldan, who works in the Morelli’s ice cream parlor in Harrod’s, is no stranger to unique flavors. In fact, he’ll make just about any flavor you want as long as you give him enough advanced notice and once made a pickled onion and white chocolate ice cream as a special request for a party.

If you’re less adventurous, perhaps you’d like to try some of his easier-to-swallow gourmet flavors that include Yorkshire pudding, clotted cream and eccles cake.

Images via Opheliates [Flickr] and Mattingham [Flickr]

Pork Rinds

Here’s one from Mexico, I can’t find much info on it, but apparently the Central Mexican town of Dolores Hidalgo has recently had a huge tourism surge after setting themselves apart in the culinary world by suddenly creating hundreds of new ice cream flavors that you can find in parlors throughout the town. While the pork rinds flavor is one of the most notable, it isn’t one of the favorites, however the avocado and tequila flavors have pretty high ratings.

Candied Bacon

Of course, not all meat-flavored ice creams are necessarily bad. While I understand the frustration some people feel at the whole bacon in everything trend, I do think candied bacon ice cream sounds rather tasty. After all, with a touch of maple syrup and some brown sugar, it already has a very candy-like flavor which seems ideal for ice cream flavoring.

Eat Your Vegetables

Salad

Lest you eat too much meat ice creams and need to follow up with some healthy veggies, relax, you can still keep your meal sundae ready with this salad ice cream. According to Food Network Humor, it has a strawberry base with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

Candied Mushroom

Like bacon, there appears to be some way to “candy” mushrooms (I’ve never tried this have any of you?) and once you’ve candied them, they are supposedly pretty tasty when added to ice cream. The flavor seems to be mild, but a little nutty and earthy, which sounds about right for mushrooms.

Chilies

If you ever have trouble deciding if you want your mouth to be freezing cold or burning hot, then Sunny Sky’s “Cold Sweat” ice cream is just what you need. Made with three of the hottest peppers on earth and two killer hot sauces, those who are brave enough to try the burning cold treat are required to sign a waiver before doing so and pregnant women and those with health problems are advised to avoid it all together.

Image via sisterbeer [Flickr]

Spices Are the Spice of Life

Curry

If peppers don’t provide enough spice to kick up your ice cream, perhaps curry will. This recipe sounds surprisingly good to me, though I am far more curry-obsessed than the average person, as it combines sweet Japanese curry and carrots.

Garlic

While many people shiver at the thought of garlic ice cream, it is somewhat well-known and loved, particularly in Northern California, where it is a traditional part of the Gilroy Garlic Fest and a popular menu item at the garlic-themed Stinking Rose restaurant in San Francisco. If you don’t live in the region though, you can always try making your own at home with this recipe.

Image via Mila Sogono [Flickr]

Wasabi

“Japanese horseradish” isn’t just for sushi anymore, you can now try it in ice cream flavor. I’ve seen a few Japanese brand names carrying the flavor in stores, but for those of us who live outside of the flavor-adventure island, we can still make our own with this helpful recipe.

Image via puck77 [Flickr]

Mustard, Roquefort and Grass

France has always worked to be the epicenter of culinary trends and while the Japanese have been munching wasabi and beef tongue, Parisians have been exploring their own unique savory flavors, including mustard,  Roquefort cheese, and even grass. They also have some sweet flavors that sound downright heavenly, like Earl Gray.

Image via roboppy [Flickr]

Barbecue Sauce

Delaware ice cream shop Udder Delight may not be the first company to experiment with bacon ice cream, but they are the first to make their own barbeque sauce ice cream. Cackalacky Spice Sauce is an award winning sauce made by a friend of Chip Hearn, the ice cream parlor owner, which is where Hearn got the idea to incorporate it into his ice cream line ups.

Udder Delight also has one other flavor you might be shocked to hear about –Viagra. It doesn’t actually include any of the miracle pill, but it is instead a blue ice cream with orange and pineapple flavors and the fizziness of Pop Rocks.

Other Weird  and Wacky Flavors

Beer

Beer drinkers rejoice, you no longer have to choose between a frothy cold one and a frozen cold treat. Ben and Jerry’s has a beer sorbet recipe in their cookbook and if you’d like some really gourmet flavors, there’s always the Raspberry Lambic Ice Cream, Apricot Ale Frozen Custard and Speedy Stout Mocha Freeze recipes available here.

Charcoal

Anyone who’s ever had to try activated charcoal tablets will gladly tell you just how gross the stuff tastes. So why someone would purposefully make an ice cream flavored with it is beyond me. Although, I guess if you had to eat charcoal after a potential poison scare, it would probably be moderately better in ice cream form. Maybe parents with nibble-happy children should start stocking their freezers now.

Stilton or Parmesan

I already mentioned the many Roquefort cheese ice creams on the market, but how does stilton or parmesan sound? While I love cheeses, I don’t know if I’m ready for them to start bombarding my ice creams just yet. Although the parmesan is described as having just a little salty flavor, the strong flavor of stilton is sure to be jolting to the taste. Perhaps it would be good as an appetizer with crackers though.

Topping It All Off

Toad Sweat

Toad Sweat is the ideal sundae topping for your cold sweat ice cream. It’s a flavored sauce with chilies so it’s creamy, spicy and sweet all at once. The company sells lemon vanilla, chocolate orange, key lime, and cranberry, all blended with habanero peppers.

I had something similar in the chocolate flavor before and while I’m not a huge fan of spicy foods, I have to say the flavor combination was actually quite good, as it left you craving more ice cream to cool the gentle burn of the delicious chocolate sauce.

Image via Stu Spivack [Flickr]

Big Gay Ice Cream Truck

This East Village ice cream truck offers up some of the most unique Sundaes around, featuring toppings such as caramelized bacon, olive oil with sea salt, curried coconut, pumpkin butter, cayenne pepper and wasabi pea dust. Have any of you seen these trucks around?

I would say the weirdest ice cream flavor I’ve ever tried would probably be aloe vera. While it sounds strange, it was actually quite good. So good, in fact, that when I couldn’t find a recipe for it online, I ended up experimenting until I found my own perfect flavor.

What’s the weirdest flavor you guys have ever tried, and would you try any on this list?

We all know about the major holidays, and most of us celebrate at least a few of them. But, underneath those happy holidays that we all share, there lurks a mass of lesser known holidays that beg for our attention.

As it would happen, there exists a segment of our population that closely mirror these unsung holidays. These people work under the radar, providng society with the technology to keep life interesting. These hardworking and dedicated people, that we affectionately refer to as geeks, should get their own holiday.

Well, we’ve found some that seems to celebrate the geekiness in all of us. So, we offer these holidays in tribute to those socially crippled huddled masses that keep life advancing forward.

National Clean Up Your Computer Month – January

The geek in all of us (including you Facebookers out there) can appreciate this holiday. This is the time to take a look at our computers and give them the attention they so desperately need. We can check disk space, remove old programs, finally empty the trash, and even clean up around the computer itself. A great holiday for geeks everywhere.

Macintosh Computer Day – January 25

The Apple geeks in the crowd get to have a double computer holiday this month as January 25th is Macintosh Computer Day. If you haven’t already this month (see above), spend some time cleaning up your Macbook, MiniMac, or iMac. This would also be a great day to dig out those Apple stickers in any product boxes lying about and proudly display them. You are an Apple Geek, show it!

World Thinking Day – February 22

I did not realize there was a day dedicated to thinking. I personally believe that every day should be a day dedicated to thinking, at least on some level and at some point during said day. However, there is such a holiday, and what better day to dedicate to our ever thinking friends than World Thinking Day.

24-Hour Global Marathon for, By and About Women in Engineering and Technology – March 10-11

Geeks are not just guys – there is a very strong and dedicated segment of the population that do have double X chromosomes. The geek gals have proven to be an equal and capable group, so they definitely deserve a special holiday for themselves. What can be better than a two-day global holiday blowout that celebrates women in engineering and technology?!

Morse Code Day – April 27 (or May 24)

Geeks everywhere have heard about Morse code. Even though that has been superseded by ASCII code in most memorized tables, a tribute to the original geek code seems like a fitting way to celebrate the classic geek. From the telegraph to the cell phone, geeks have influenced our lives and given us new ways to play together online.

Geek Pride Day – May 25

It is everyone’s right to be a geek, and Geek Pride Day celebrates this on one of the most important dates in geek history, the opening day of the original “Star Wars” movie. The holiday even comes with its own geek Bill of Rights (meant to not be taken seriously, of course):

1. The right to be even geekier
2. The right to not leave your house
3. The right to not have a significant other and to be a virgin
4. The right to not like football or any other sport
5. The right to associate with other nerds
6. The right to have few friends (or none at all)
7. The right to have all the geeky friends that you want
8. The right to not be “in-style”
9. The right to be overweight and have poor eyesight
10. The right to show off your geekiness
11. The right to take over the world

Of particular interest is the last item, which just may happen at some point. (I guess it is a good thing that we are giving geeks their holidays now, it can’t hurt to be on their good side…)

Ball Point Pen Day – June 10

Pocket protectors everywhere, rejoice! Without the ubiquitous ball point pen, then geeks everywhere would have no need of the pocket protector. It would be like Superman without his cape, or Batman without his utility belt. So, I think we should really take note of this day, and everyone out there write an email to pass the word – even if ironically the emails hasten in a small way the eventual demise of the ball point pen.

Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day – July 6

When you get up on a chilly winter morning and check your favorite news site and weather for the day, you should thank a geek for making sure that the server is up and running. The specialized geek responsible for doing this, is known as a webmaster, and they work tirelessly (more or less) to keep the web communicating. So, celebrate this day by taking your favorite webmaster geek to lunch. And please, keep all jokes about “downloading lunch” to a minimum.

Embrace Your Geekness Day – July 13

Some people are ashamed of their inner geek – they are afraid to be stereotyped as anti-social, and have an innate fear of fixing things for others. But on this day you can cast away your fears and embrace your desire to defrag your computer drive. Who knows, by the end of the day, you too may have an appreciation for the geek culture.

National Inventor’s Month – August

Where would we be without the geeks known as inventors? From the automobile to the TV, from the typewriter to the internet, inventors have given us ways to make our lives better and more interesting. During the month of August we can pay tribute to those inventive folks who saw the need and a way to fulfill it.

IBM PC Day – August 12

The IBM PC has probably had one of the biggest impacts on early computing than any other product, and its influence is still felt to today. Generations of geeks have cut their computing teeth on IBM PC clones, and Microsoft would not be as big as it is if it were not for the IBM PC. Geeks everywhere, wave a lighter in the air for IBM PC Day.

Google Commemoration Day – September 7

Google is everywhere, and apparently all types of geeks love (and built) Google. So it seems natural that a day celebrating Google-ness would also be a tribute to geek-ness.

Techie’s Day – October 3

Where would we be without those techie geeks that keep our office computers humming along? Without them we would soon be reduced to pen and paper, and getting a fax or email would literally take days. This October 3rd take time to appreciate your local techie geek, and give them their day by trying to avoid breaking things until at least after lunch that day.

Computer Security Day – November 30

Geeks everywhere, take note – there are such things as evil tech people, and they want to enslave your computer for their nefarious uses. Take this day to celebrate the comfort of knowing that you have taken steps to keep your computer safe. And if you need help, go find a computer geek!

International Shareware Day – December 11

Rounding out our geek holidays for the year is International Shareware Day. Shareware was created (or at least named) by uber geek Bob Wallace, and the premise is simple – try it before you buy it. This concept thrives today, where computer users everywhere download programs on a wide variety of topics daily. It just goes to show – geeks know business.

Hopefully this list of holidays will give our geeks a reason to celebrate being what they are. Without them, the world is a slower, uncommunicative, and boring place (no video games). More importantly, we all have a little geek inside of us, so we in turn celebrate ourselves.

(image credits: Flickr users Sidereal, mr.beaver, and x-ray delta one)

The picture on the left is not photoshopped. That’s really what the chicks look like. Their eggs were injected with dye, leaving the little ones colored upon hatching. Once their new feathers grow out, they’ll be normal-colored again, but for now, they’re mighty festive.

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