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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.
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!
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.
Comments Off 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.
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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!
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.
If you’ve had it with the holidays and you’re looking for a new way to celebrate, then this list of fictional holidays, invented by TV shows, might show you a new way to celebrate. From lesser known Yak Shaving Day, to the wildly popular celebration known as Festivus, these holidays are a far cry from boring, and they’re all a good enough excuse to par-tay!
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
There’s no tastier holiday tradition than creating your very own gingerbread house. If you aren’t very talented at sealing cookie bits together, like I am, even your best homes probably look like they’re ready to be condemned upon completion. Fortunately, not everyone is so inept at gingerbread creations and many creators go on to put together their own delightfully geeky designs. Here are some of the best nerdy gingerbread creations around.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
Lords a leaping, maids a milking and partridges in a pear tree are hardly useful gifts these days, but thanks to the classic song’s popularity, they are now used as a standard measure for inflation. Of course, if you did want to get these gifts for your true love, the inflation measures can tell you just how much debt they will bring you. This year, the total cost for the full list of gifts costs $101,119.84.
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
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Zappos certainly got in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday on Wednesday evening, they went ahead and paid all of the tolls for drivers heading through one section of the turnpike between 5-7 PM. While it was only a $1.50 savings per person, but certainly a great way to cheer people up as they headed home for the holiday weekend.
Link Via Consumerist
Image via Dan4th [Flickr]
Comments Off Thanksgiving is great, but let’s face it –sometimes it’s just not relatable enough for those of us obsessed with fantasy and sci-fi tales. If pilgrims and natives aren’t your thing, then turkey, cranberry and pumpkin might not cut it either. For those of you who are thankful for good contributions to geek culture, here are a few ideas to make your own Thanksgiving feast a little more memorable.
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.
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!
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.
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:
more …
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Sure we usually think of horror movies as a Halloween treat, but movie makers don’t limit themselves to just one holiday. Flavorwire has a slideshow featuring horror movies that feature just about every major holiday of the year.
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?
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.
Comments Off Did you know the third Thursday of every April is National High Five Day? That would be April 21 this year. While the best way to celebrate High Five Day is simply to give out your fair share of celebratory slaps, it can also help to know your history and when it comes to the high five, that history is actually rather recent.
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
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.
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
For the devout, Easter is an opportunity to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, but for many others, it’s an excuse to munch down on piles of pastel candies and chocolate bunnies. By far the most notorious of these springtime treats is the sugar-coated marshmallow masses known as Peeps. But you don’t have to love the taste of Peeps to appreciate their brilliance. The simple bunny and chick shapes open the candies up to a whole new realm of fun in the form of diorama artworks. Here are a few of the funniest and coolest we could find.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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While humans are not biologically programmed to be monogamous (only 3% of all mammals are), our social structure is largely based around romantic partnerships. To celebrate our own romantic attachments, lets reflect on some of nature’s most loving couples.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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]
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]
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.
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?
Most of you are familiar with American, Canadian and English Christmas customs, which are largely the same, including Santa bringing presents that sit below a lit up tree. But have you ever wondered just how Christmas is celebrated in China, or in Finland? Whether you’re just interested in learning more about other cultures or want to incorporate some new traditions into your holiday celebrations, this article is filled with all you need to know about international Christmases.
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.
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]
Living in Southern California tends to mean that any dreams of a white Christmas will pretty much stay that way unless you head out of town. There is one magical area though where tourists and locals alike can gather to enjoy the snow while still feeling comfortable in their shorts. Every year, Disneyland transforms into a holiday wonderland, complete with snow, reindeer, carols, and festivities.
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]
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]
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]
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
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
Comments Off This Halloween, Neatorama’s already given you costume ideas and spooky food inspirations, so now it’s time to think about your home decoration. Whether you’re planning to decorate for a killer Halloween party or just want to impress the local trick and treaters, these cool geektastic decoration ideas are sure to impress.
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.
Video link
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.
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?
Video link
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.
Video link
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.
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.
Still looking for the perfect Halloween costume that really expresses your interests? Well, if you’re looking for something nerdy, geeky or dorky, we’ve got you covered with this ultimate guide to geeky Halloween costumes.
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.
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.
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.
Video link
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.
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.
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.
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.
Video link
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.
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.
Video link
This Gameboy costume has a working monitor on it displaying Tetris, even better, the game can be controlled with the buttons on the costume.
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.
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.
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?
July is National Ice Cream Month and it is indeed a great month to enjoy a cool scoop of your favorite flavors. If you’re looking to expand your tasting horizons to some of the stranger flavors in the ice cream rainbow, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve collected the weirdest and wackiest ice cream flavors from around the world for your enjoyment.
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?”
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]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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