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Hanson as a heavy metal ban? MMMBop to that! In his series DeathPop Club, designer Mark Hall-Patch created a set of logos for pop bands and singers in the style of heavy metal: Link - via Typo Graphical
Gremlins Pop! Bobblehead – $10.45
Is midnight snacking ruining your diet? You need the Gremlins Pop! Bobblehead from the NeatoShop. We suggest you put him near your fridge as a way to remember what happened to the sweet and lovable Mogwai when they ate after midnight!
Be sure to check out the Neatoshop for more adorable Bobbleheads!
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Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
“Snap”, “Crackle,” and “Pop” have been the world-famous symbols of Rice Krispies since 1933. Rice Krispies was first marketed by Kellogg’s in 1927. As a breakfast cereal, it was first released to the public in 1928.
“Snap”, “Crackle,” and “Pop” were originally created by illustrator Vernon Grant. The characters came out of a radio ad for the cereal: “Listen to the fairy song of health, the merry chorus sung by Kellogg’s Rice Krispies as they merrily snap, crackle, and pop in a bowl of milk. If you’ve never heard your cereal talking, now is your chance.” The three characters were elves and represented the sound the cereal makes when you pour milk on it.
Why do Rice Krispies make their unique snap, crackle, pop sound? Rice Krispies are made of grains that are cooked, dried, and toasted. During the process, they expand to form thin, hollowed out walls that are crispy and crunchy. When the cereal is exposed to milk or juice, the walls tend to suddenly collapse, creating the famous Rice Krispies sound.
The characters of “Snap”, “Crackle,” and “Pop” each have their own distinct character. “Snap” is the oldest, wears a chef’s hat, and is a baker. “Crackle” has no clear profession, wears a red and white stocking cap, and is the smartest of the three. “Pop” is the youngest, wears a band leader’s hat, likes to play jokes, and is a soldier.
I did the voice of “Pop” for three or four years, I think. ImdB lists me as being “Pop” for one year -1997. This is totally incorrect. I am sure I did it for at least three, possibly four years. It was truly one of the happiest, easiest gigs I ever had. I worked with great, nice people. I got to meet the executives of Kellogg’s and these guys were so friendly and nice.
During my tenure as “Pop”, the guy I recorded with, who played “Snap” was in Chicago and was patched in. “Crackle” and I would be in the studio together. I don’t remember the name of the first “Crackle,” but he was replaced by my friend Kevin during my run.
Unfortunately, I eventually got fired, too. A girl replaced me as “Pop.” “Snap” and “Crackle” were replaced by guys, but my replacement was a chick. I am not positive, I may be wrong, but she may have been the only female voice to ever do any of the three characters.
My mom used to eat Rice Krispies for breakfast all the time, but she stopped after they canned me.
Did you know “Snap”, “Crackle,” and “Pop” originally had a fourth partner? Originally, a fourth character named “Pow” was featured along with “Snap”, “Crackle,” and “Pop.” “Pow” was to represent the explosive nutritional value of Rice Krispies. “Pow” didn’t really catch on and was soon discontinued as a character.
Rice Krispies Trivia
In 1941, a Kellogg’s employee named Mildred Day created a new recipes for a Camp Fire Girls bake sale. It consisted of Rice Krispies, melted marshmallows, and margarine. It was dubbed “Rice Krispies Treats,” and the recipe and its variations remain hugely popular to this day.
Rice Krispies are known as “Rice Bubbles”: in Australia and New Zealand.
The Rolling Stones recorded a short song for a Rice Krispies TV ad in 1963.
Although we are used to snap, crackle, and pop in English, the cereal’s unique sounds are known by other names around the world:
* English: Snap, crackle, pop.
* Spanish: Pim, pum, pam.
* French-Canadian: Cric, crac, croc.
* Finnish: Riks, raks, poks.
* Danish: Piff, paff, poff.
* German: Krisper, knasper, knuster.
* Afrikaans: Knap, knaetter, knak.
* Dutch: Pif, paf, pof.
Jason Vorhees Friday the 13th Pop! Bobblehead - $9.95
How do you make a scary film character cute? You turn him into a bobblehead of course! Just check out the Jason Vorhees Friday the 13th Pop! Bobblehead from the NeatoShop. He’s so sweet you almost want to pinch his cheeks. Almost.
Be sure to check all the other fantastic Bobbleheads from the NeatoShop!
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Princess Leia Star Wars Pop! Bobblehead – $9.95
Attention Star Wars Fans! Check out the Princess Leia Star Wars Pop! Bobblehead from the NeatoShop! Yes, we finally have a Princess Leia item! Isn’t she cute!
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Star Wars fun!
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In this 1950s ad for soft drinks, the new 12-ounce size is labeled as “King Size”. Contrast that with the more recent sign below.
Sociological Images looks at how food and drink serving sizes have grown over time. Link -via Boing Boing
Photo: richard.heeks [Flickr]
We’ve featured a lot of really neat photos on Neatorama, but I think this one is definitely in the top 10. Here’s a photo by Richard Heeks of a soap bubble bursting:
The lighting of this shot is natural – sunlight through cloud. The Nikon D90 is great for giving clear images at high ISO (here ISO 800); making this shot possible.
N.B. This is a real photo of a soap bubble bursting. I’ve made slight edits to raise colour and light, but this is just to add some punch. This is not a Photoshop creation!
More photos of bubbles at Richard’s Flickr photoset: Link – via happy mundane
Cyndi Lauper is one of my heroes. I saw her a few years ago and even though she was around 45 at the time, she had the energy of a teenager. Her style has changed over the years, but it is as unique as ever. If you get the chance to see Cyndi live, do it. She’s an amazing performer with an excellent voice.
That being said, I was excited to write about Cyndi for the Music Tidbits today. It’s in a new format that should make it a bit more fun and readable. Hope you like it!
She Keeps it Real
Or at least, her name is real. Unlike other pop stars, Cyndi Lauper was born in New York in 1953 and was named Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper.
Cyndi Does it All
Image Via danorbit. [Flickr]
While she’s best known for singing, she can also play guitar, write lyrics and act. She started writing songs and playing guitar at only twelve years old. She’s acted in quite a few movies and tv shows, including Mad About You, the Ron Howard movie Vibes and Life With Mikey beside Michael J. Fox. Her role in Mad About You almost turned into a spin off, but network executives thought the show concept was too out there.
She’s always Been So Original
When she was only a middle-schooler, she was already dyeing her hair crazy colors and wearing her weird clothing styles she’s known for. Speaking of her wardrobe, it actually became a problem during the1985 taping of “We Are the World,” when a weird clacking noise showed up on the tape. Audio engineers finally tracked the noise down to her jewelry bonking against itself.
Doctors Said She’d Never Sing Again…Then She Did
In 1977, Cyndi severely damaged her vocal cords. Three different doctors told her she would never sing again. But she didn’t give up and started seeing vocal coach Katir Agresta, who helped Cyndi recover by teaching her a series of vocal exercises.
She’s Got High Standards
In 1978, she started a music group, Blue Angel, with saxaphonist John Turi, where they performed original music. When labels started showing interest in Cyndi’s vocal abilities (she can sing in four octaves and has perfect pitch), they wanted to sign her as a solo artist. She refused to sign with any labels until Polydor Records opted to take on all of Blue Angel.
Write On!
Photo Via t_a_i_s [Flickr]
When Cyndi signed as a solo artist with Portrait Records, the label wanted her to sing all only their pre-written pop songs. Cyndi changed most of these songs to suit her personality, which also let her claim co-writer credits and royalties later on. The most well-known song she did this to was “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” which was originally written for a male singer. Cyndi thought the original lyrics were a little misogynistic, as it was all about a woman pleasing a man.
Although the label didn’t trust her writing abilities, the record producer decided they needed one more song on her first album and convinced the label to let her write a song. She co-wrote Time After Time with Rob Hyman. The song ended up being the biggest single of 1985 and has since been covered by over 100 artists. The title came from a 1979 sci-fi movie starring Malcolm McDowell.
Girls Just Want to Have Trivia
Video Link
In the video for “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” Cyndi’s mother was played by her actual mother. Also in the video was Cyndi’s dog and pro-wrestler Lou Albano. Cyndi’s famous red dress in the video was from the boutique she was working at between being signed for Blue Angel and her solo career. The video won the first ever award for Best Female Video at the MTV Music Awards. The album it was on was so popular that she became the first female artist to have four consecutive Top 5 hits from a single album.
The World Wrestling Foundation Loved Cyndi
And vice versa. Aside from having Lou Albano appear in her first video, Cyndi had frequent interactions with the stars of the WWF. Her video for the Goonies included a number of wrestling greats, including Andre The Giant and when she recieved her first Grammy Award, Hulk Hogan appeared with her, pretending to be her bodyguard. She also made quite a few appearances at WWF events, the most famous event was at the Inaugural WrestleMania event. She appeared as the manager of Wendi Richter and entered the area to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
She Hates The Goonies
Or rather, the song she wrote for the album, “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough.” It doesn’t have too much to do with the song itself, she was just traumatized by the physical exhaustion she suffered during the taping of the video. The director was too much of a perfectionist and ran the entire crew ragged. She left the song off of her best of album and only started singing it at concerts again back in 2003.
PeeWee’s Playhouse Lied To You
Cyndi wrote and performed the theme song for PeeWee’s Playhouse, but was credited as Ellen Shaw for some reason. When Cyndi was married, PeeWee (aka Paul Ruebens) was at her wedding, along with Little Richard, John Tuturo and other celebrities. Although Cyndi threatened to show up dressed as a Christmas tree, she wore a traditional white gown.
Cyndi Loves Guest Appearances
Throughout her recording career, Cyndi featured a number of guest stars on her albums, including Billy Joel, The Bangles, Rick Derringer, Bootsy Collins, Eric Clapton, Shaggy, Ani DiFranco, Jeff Beck, Paul Reubens (PeeWee Herman), Sarah McLachlan, The Hives and more. In her recent 2008 tour, she had appearances from Joan Jett, Rosie O’Donnell, The B52’s, Indigo Girls, Regina Spektor, Wanda Sykes, Sarah McLachlan and more. Lastly, although it may not count as a guest appearance, Julia Stiles, appeared as young Cyndi in the video for “Sally’s Pigeons” before she was a famous actress.
She’s Heterosexual, but Once Wished She Was Gay
Lauper is considered a gay icon, but she is heterosexual. Her sister and many of her close friends are gay and she has been performing at gay pride events since 1994. In fact, for a while, she thought herself to be a lesbian. She told The Times, “My sister was gay, my best friends were gay, so I figured I had to be gay. So I did everything they did. I tried kissing girls. But it didn’t feel right for me and eventually I was forced to come out as a heterosexual.”
I’ve never had fungus tea, the cloudy juice left from the fermentation process of kimchee, or fermented dandelion and burdock roots, but I would be willing to try it. Some look downright tasty, like the cinnamon aroma of Guaraná Jesus from Brazil, or the ice cream soda from Pakistan, Pakola.
Almdudler is the brand name of a popular Austrian soft drink. The original Almdudler is a sweetened carbonated beverage flavored with herbs; its flavor is similar to ginger ale or elderflower cordial but with a somewhat stronger and more complex flavor. Almdudler has been called the “national drink of Austria”. Its popularity in Austria is second only to Coca Cola; 80 million liters of the beverage are produced yearly.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by notoriousnicholas.
How do I make a dove cry? Hmmm…thank goodness for this helpful flow chart. Of course, maybe you have other burning questions, like “what percentage of boys were brought to the yard by respective milkshakes?” Finally, your pop music questions can be answered in easy visual charts and graphs.
Link Via GiggleSugar
