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Is that a woman dressed in a burka or ninja gear? Perhaps we shouldn't be suprised to find that thousands of Iranian women are now training to become ninjas.
From Oddity Central:
The Ninjustu school in Iran was started in 1989 by Sensei Akbar Faraji. This was the first time the martial art was introduced to the country. While the club now has over 24,000 members, the number of female participants is slowly on the rise. According to Faraji, in Ninjutsu, men are called ninjas, while women are addressed as kunoichi.
I Love Ninjas Beanie | $29.95
Let the world knew you love ninjas with this rockin’ Ninja Beanie from the NeatoShop! It keeps your head warm and serves as an excellent icebreaker at the same time. These 100% handmade hats are made from 100% wool on the outside with 100% polyester lining, then there’s the yarn and felt decorations that tell everyone how you love ninjas! Get yours while they last, and while you’re at the NeatoShop, check out more headgear you’ll also love.
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Olivier Trudeau produced this stop-motion ninja duel on his kitchen table using action figures in his spare time. I love the cinematic sound effects! -via One Large Prawn
Knit Your Own Mini Ninja – $11.95
Have you always dreamed of knitting your own army of mini ninjas, but just didn’t know where to start? You need the Knit Your Own Mini Ninja from the NeatoShop. This fantastic kit includes:
This is a perfect set for a beginning knitter who longs to take over the world.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more hilarious Toys & Games!
Comments Off This short film is subtitled “A quick tale of violence,” but it’s more odd than violent. A driver picks up carrots off the highway and eats them. Then it gets weird. Produced by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan. -Thanks, Benjamin Hertel!
Ninjabread Men – $8.95
Is your Mom a warrior in the kitchen? This Mother’s Day get her the Ninjabread Men from the NeatoShop! She will be able to make some killer cookies with these fabulous little cutters.
Be sure to check out all fun-tastic Cooking Gadgets available at the NeatoShop!
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T-shirt weather is coming, so stock up on Funny T-Shirts (available as sweatshirts and hoodies, too) from the NeatoShop. From geeky to attitude to one-liners, we've got 'em at prices so cheap (starting at $9.95), you can buy a bunch of 'em!
Free shipping to USA and Canada on orders $75 and up! Link
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Mini Samurai Umbrella – $19.95
April showers bring May flowers. Are you looking for a stylish umbrella to keep you from getting all wet? You need the Mini Samurai Umbrella from the NeatoShop. Go ahead, tell that rain you mean business!
The Samurai Sword Umbrella is also available as a full sized umbrella.
You Tube Link
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for all your oddball needs.
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Ninja Matryoshka – $13.95
Do you love Ninjas? Do you love Nesting Dolls? You are going to love the Ninja Matryoshka from the NeatoShop!
The Ninja Matryoshka can kick that regular, old and boring Matryoshka’s butt! It will happen so fast they won’t even see it coming.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more neat Nesting Dolls!
Comments Off You talkin’ to me, bottles? You must be talkin’ to me, I don’t see any other badass hardcore ninjas in my back yard! You want some of this?!?
I remember the first Samurai sword I got. I went around slicing up everything that came into my eye sight including people. But my Samurai sword was made out of plastic. But this guy, dressed up like Snake Eyes, is like a 10 year old kid on Christmas who just got a real samurai sword. So what does he do with it? He goes ballistic on a bunch of plastic bottles brutally destroying them. What would make this even more awesome is if the plastc bottle actually fought back!
Ninjabread Men – $8.95
Gingerbread man had no chance! He presumably met an early yet delicious demise, with the arrival of the ninjabread men from the NeatoShop: Link
See also: More Fun and Unusual Kitchen Stuff
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Ninjas are shadowy figures that dispense death from the dark corners of the room (I’m thinking of you, Ninja Assassin
Ninja Stretch Armstrong
Originally introduced in the 1970s, Stretch Armstrong is one of those toys that refuse to erase itself from pop culture’s consciousness. Essentially a bag of corn syrup, Cap Toys dressed him up in different guises to make you forget that his shtick can get kind of old quick. "Ninja" Stretch can’t hold his weapons (he ain’t got no fingers!) but at least that mask covers up that unsettling death mask grin he’s got going on…
The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History Again.
You’ve seen these men in black everywhere, usually in a group, threatening a movie hero. But how much do you really know about the dark warriors of feudal Japan? It’s time to separate the men from the myth.
1. The ninja were a clan of evil assassins for hire.
Myth! In the movies, ninja are portrayed as evil mercenaries crawling out of the woodwork to make sashimi out of the good guy. In reality, they were mountain people of Japan who were systematically harassed by the samurai ruling class 400 years ago. Mostly they farmed. For self-defense when outnumbered, the ninja created a fighting system call Ninjutsu, “the art of stealth”. When money got tight the occasional ninja would sell his skills. These few renegades created the stereotype of ninja as the warrior killer.
2. One ninja could sometimes defeat five soldiers.
Fact! Ninja specifically trained to fight more than one opponent. But they considered escape a victory. Their big-city oppressors outnumbered them, so training involved “dirty” fighting tactics that would scare or injure adversaries just long enough for ninja to get away. The samurai were trained in one-on-one fighting against an opponent who actively engages, not a slippery man in black who kicks you in the toe and disappears. Ninja learned to get the job done quickly. A ninja boxing match wouldn’t make a good spectator sport: one pokes the other in the eye and climbs a tree.
(Image from the film Sengoku Yaro. Source: Vintage Ninjas)
3. All ninja were male.
Myth! Lady ninja were called kunoichi. Occasionally, some wielded swords like the men, but most often, they were trained as spies and messengers to help gather information that would help their clan. Kunoichi used the illusion of helplessness to their advantage, wielding secret weapons like sashes, fans, combs, and umbrellas when forced to fight. n occasion, they assassinated unsuspecting “suitors”. They even carried a bag of little, bladed finger gloves that gave them the equivalent of iron press-on nails of death!
(Image from the film Kaze no Bushi. Source: Vintage Ninjas)
4. Ninja practiced black magic and had supernatural powers.
Myth! While ninja may have appeared magical, they put their pajamas on one leg at a time, just like everybody else. In battle, though, they used this legend to frighten their enemies. The height of ninja activities was during the 1600s; but by the 1800s, most ninja action involved farming or looking for work. Yet ninja buzz kept growing through art, theater, and word of mouth. By the 1900s, ninja were portrayed as practically superhuman.
(Image credit: Flickr user Jérôme Sadou)
5. Ninjas always wore black.
Myth! In real life, ninja dressed for the job at hand; they usually looked like everyone else. When sneaking into an enemy lair, they wore the uniforms of their adversaries to trick them. By the Edo Period (1603-1867), their exploits were famous enough to hit the Kabuki theater. Taking the stealthy reputation of the ninja into consideration, Kabuki troupes decided to portray ninja the same as stagehands-dressed all in black so as not to be seen by the audience. Henceforth, all ninja were portrayed in black.
6. Ninja in training walked through fire, stood under freezing waterfalls, and dangled themelves over cliffs.
Fact! As Japan’s Edo Period wore on, the ninja became less secretive. There were no more feudal wars left to fight. Ninja masters wrote books, opened schools to teach others, and became scholars. And their fighting became world famous. In the 1980s, the American film Enter the Ninja set off a brief ninja craze in the United States, and lots of schools opened (some more authentic than others). There are thousands of practicing ninja in the United States today.
(Image credit: Flickr user RodrigoFavera)
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The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History Again.
The book is a compendium of entertaining information chock-full of facts on a plethora of history topics. Uncle John’s first plunge into history was a smash hit – over half a million copies sold! And this sequel gives you more colorful characters, cultural milestones, historical hindsight, groundbreaking events, and scintillating sagas.
Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. Check out their website here: Bathroom Reader Institute
Fifteen ninja monkeys on trees
Evil scientists, beware! Cages, plodding henchmen …er, "graduate students" and even seventeen-feet tall electrified fence are match for … the ninja monkeys:
A group of 15 monkeys at Kyoto University’s primate research institute in Aichi Prefecture, which are the focus of a string of high-profile scientific studies, escaped from their forest home which is encased by a 17ft high electric fence.
The monkeys made their bid for freedom by using tree branches to fling themselves one by one over the high voltage electric fence located nearly three metres away.
The ninja monkeys are invincible … well … except for one teeny tiny weakness:
However, despite the intelligence shown in their great escape, the primates appeared unsure as to what to do with their newfound freedom: the monkeys remained by the gates of the research centre and were lured back into captivity by scientists armed with peanuts.
The deadliest art of the Orient is now in the paws of a cat. Behold, the super fast attacks of the ninja cat! Quick, someone call Michael Dudikoff! via Geekologie
Why play boring old hand games like rock-paper-scissors, and lame derivatives, when there is another game that includes the awesomeness of pirates, ninjas and robots?
Here is the new version of rock-paper-scissors, or rochambeau, as it is sometimes known. As you can see from the schematic below, each thing can beat two other things, and is, in turn beaten by two other things.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by drtundra.
Perhaps it’s not such a good idea to be rude at your waitress in this restaurant: they wield swords and flare flames at diners of the Ninja Restaurant.
"The ninja is mysterious," said Ou Chia-wei, owner of the restaurant simply named Ninja, explaining why he chose that theme for the Japanese-style restaurant. "On that premise, we can do magic tricks and light up the food."
Waitresses working the barely lit dining room floor burn specialty menus, which vanish without a trace of ash, and send flames snaking across tables as customers watch.
Ok, so maybe there is a slight hint of sarcasm incorporated into the title of this video. Apparently there is a learning curve, for some, when it comes to the classic household game of hide and seek. This little "ninja" has a long way to go in terms of mastering the art of finding a stealthy hiding spot. The two images at the end of the video are priceless.
– via youtube
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by flagler.
Ninjas have got nothing on these animals! One minute you see only a sofa, and the next out comes … a dog, cats, and a ferret (ok, so they’re not all in the same couch, mmkay?)
Urlesque blog has the top 5 best videos of animals hiding in sofas: Link
Claude is a 6-year-old orphan Asiatic black bear, a resident of the Asa Zoo in Hiroshima. His ability to twirl sticks like a ninja is jaw-dropping – so good that it looks fake, but there are other videos at Japanator (with a baseball bat) and here.
– via video
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Minnesotastan.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Christophe.
Whoa! Take a look at these super sweet shuriken (Ninja throwing star) magnets at epaulet. Want! Link – via BB Gadgets
More cool stuff at Core 77′s Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide (77 items for under $77)
