"Big Daddy" is, I hope, fully grown. This Japanese Spider Crab lives at the Sea Life Centre in Blackpool, UK. Chris Brown, a curator there, is either moving him or wrestling him, neither of which is advisable.
Are you looking for the perfect place to stash your most precious coins and perhaps a few of your favorite dead presidents? You need the Zombie Lincoln Coin Bank from the NeatoShop. This devilishly fun bank is shaped like a zombie version of the Lincoln Memorial.
The Zombie Lincoln Coin Bank is made in the USA. It is handcrafted by local artisans. No two are exactly alike.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Zombie items.
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
"Cheesecake" to describe a a sexy, attractive woman flaunting her appeal is nowadays a rather archaic term. Likewise "beefcake" in reference to a "hunk" with rippling muscles, now also seems rather outdated. Not that sex appeal itself is in any way passé, it's just that new terms and expressions come along into each succeeding generation describing the relative appeal and attractiveness of males and females. Let's take a look at the origins of two classic terms of sex appeal: cheesecake and beefcake.
Curiously, the term "cheesecake," in connection with a beautiful woman, seems like a fairly recent term. It has a kind of a 1920s or '30s sound to it. But no, cheesecake was used in Britain in the 1660s! Even then, the term was used to describe overly sexy or promiscuous women.
It can be found in Poems and Songs Relating to the Late Times, published in 1662. Shortly after Oliver Cromwell died, it was used to regret the occasion of Cromwell driving certain ladies (of questionable repute) out of the town:
But ah! It goes against our hearts,
To lose our cheesecake and our tarts.
(Catchy, huh?)
But a more influential usage was inaugurated more than 250 years later. Fast forward to 1912, when James Kane, a photographer, was working for The New York Journal. One day James was posing an attractive young woman when a breeze blew her skirt up. When more leg than usual came on display, Mr. Kane (who reputedly loved cheesecake) exclaimed, "Wow! This is better than cheesecake!"
And a universal metaphor was born.
Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company that promotes its brand with signature lucky underpants. Here's a jumbo size of that garment serving as a hot air balloon at the Cheltenham Festival, an annual horse race in the UK. I'd like to use it in a very cheap remake of Zardoz.
Link -via Dave Barry
Do you want to live life on the edge? These hot and spicy sticks of happiness will get you there. Zach Wilkins and Jason Medina ground Hot Cheetos and bread crumbs together and made an egg wash with Tabasco sauce. They then dipped mozzarella sticks in the wash, then the Cheeto mix, before finally laying these wonders into a deep fryer.
Nekofont lets you spell out anything you like in letters made of cats! Just enter your text, upper case, lower case, or a combination, and a neat image like this one will be generated. You'll even get a script to copy and paste if you choose. Meow! Link -via Everlasting Blort
Zombies are were just the most super helpful people. They will go to great lengths to pick your brain and are always willing to lend an in ear in your time of need. Isn't it time you let a NeatoShop Zombie into your life?
The Zombie Ear Keychain from the NeatoShop is handcrafted in the USA by local artisans. It is made of tough urethane resin and features a loop for your keys.
The Zombie Ear Keychains are hand painted. No two are exactly alike.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Zombie items and "fun"ctional Keychains.
Neatoramanaut Joseph Francis is a professional photographer and visual effects artist. He was kind enough to share with us some of his eye-catching work and approach to the craft:
I work in visual effects where a lot of the work is overt and obvious. Nobody doubts the digital nature of a giant robot, no matter how well it's done, because we all know giant robots don't exist. But a lot of what the VFX artist does is invisible and subtle and in the service of storytelling. Nobody talks about the model miniature work in Driving Miss Daisy, but it's there. (work cited to illustrate a point - that movie is unrelated to me, btw). One might think that invisible VFX work such as adding the perfect clouds to a scene to assist the storyteller is not exciting, but in the case of my own work I'm the storyteller, as well as the VFX artist, so if I feel that adding some dishes on a shelf in a dark corner adds to the piece, I'll do it.
Artist's Website (warning: some artistic nudity)
This is the most amazing thing I've seen all day! Stop and watch this video right now. Brusspup, maker of astounding optical illusions, let water flow past a speaker set to a particular frequency:
Run the rubber hose down past the speaker so that the hose touches the speaker. Leave about 1 or 2 inches of the hose hanging past the bottom of the speaker. Secure the hose to the speaker with tape or whatever works best for you. The goal is to make sure the hose is touching the actual speaker so that when the speaker produces sound (vibrates) it will vibrate the hose.
Set up your camera and switch it to 24 fps. The higher the shutter speed the better the results. But also keep in the mind that the higher your shutter speed, the more light you need. Run an audio cable from your computer to the speaker. Set your tone generating software to 24hz and hit play.Turn on the water. Now look through the camera and watch the magic begin. If you want the water to look like it's moving backward set the frequency to 23hz. If you want to look like it's moving forward in slow motion set it to 25hz.
-via Colossal
This math equation has been passed around on Facebook precisely because people argue about it. Having not taken a math class in 40 years or so, I only got halfway through it before I became stuck. Sure, if it were a mortgage amortization or a sale on beans, I would be able to figure out what I want to know, but the way problems are presented in math class are beyond my long-term memory. The problem is in the way it is written. Tara Haelle at Slate explains:
Some of you are already insisting in your head that 6 ÷ 2(1+2) has only one right answer, but hear me out. The problem isn’t the mathematical operations. It’s knowing what operations the author of the problem wants you to do, and in what order. Simple, right? We use an “order of operations” rule we memorized in childhood: “Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally,” or PEMDAS, which stands for Parentheses Exponents Multiplication Division Addition Subtraction.* This handy acronym should settle any debate—except it doesn’t, because it’s not a rule at all. It’s a convention, a customary way of doing things we’ve developed only recently, and like other customs, it has evolved over time. (And even math teachers argue over order of operations.)
“In earlier times, the conventions didn’t seem as rigid and people were supposed to just figure it out if they were mathematically competent,” says Judy Grabiner, a historian of mathematics at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif. Mathematicians generally began their written work with a list of the conventions they were using, but the rise of mass math education and the textbook industry, as well as the subsequent development of computer programming languages, required something more codified. That codification occurred somewhere around the turn of the last century. The first reference to PEMDAS is hard to pin down. Even a short list of what different early algebra texts taught reveals how inconsistently the order of operations was applied.
That cleared up nothing at all for me, because where I was stuck was in a much siller place. I had to read the entire article before I figured out what to do. See if you can come up with an answer before you read the rest. Link
(Image source: Matthew McKibbon)
Although Chelsea Bloxsom crafts in many different media, I'm especially taken with her Adventure Time embroidery. I drifted away from the series after Season 2, but I may go back if Jake frequently utters such wisdom.
Before we left, I asked you if you needed to go. I pointed out the Corvette as it drove out of the carwash. But no, you said you were fine.
Dan Piraro of Bizarro Comics shares with us one of the great and constant joys of parenting.
You've heard the phrase "he's got more talent in his big toe than I've got in my whole body"? Austrian band Mnozil Brass shows off some skills you didn't even know musicians had in this performance of "Lonely Boy." -via Arbroath
Princess Zelda is life-size: 5' 6" and made entirely of paper! DeviantART member minidelirium spent 226 hours putting this papercraft statue based on the character from the game Twilight Princess together -and then gave it away to an internet friend!
She used a downloadable template by PaperJuke, in case you want to try this yourself. See more pictures at minidelirium's gallery. Link -via Geekologie
(Images credit: MissDeliana)
This is a display of cake art, but not exactly a cake. Redditor UberPrioritizer's wife, a baking and pastry teacher at Johnson & Wales University, made each fruit and vegetable from fondant and gum paste. Because it was made for display, and must last several months, the "cake" underneath is made of styrofoam forms. The title is "Eat A Rainbow Every Day." You can see it at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Link
If you were standing 20 feet away, would you even be able to tell that they aren't real? LEGO artists Sean and Steph Mayo recreated several instects in LEGO form, labeled them and placed them in presevation boxes for the 2013 MocAthalon, a LEGO art competition. You can view the rest at the link.
Link -via Ian Brooks
No matter how you define "geeky", there will be something on this blanket that will make you coo with delight. Ravelry member Leilaniac designed it in Excel and knitted it with Shibui Knits sock yarn. What's the center square? That's binary for the name of Leilaniac's nephew, who received this wonderful blanket as a gift.
Devin at According to Devin drew a series of cats to illustrate what goes on at the biggest social networking sites on the internet. See more of them at his site. Link -via Laughing Squid
Bloomberg Businessweek has an extended account of how Disney made the deal to purchase Lucasfilm and its Star Wars franchise. They spoke to George Lucas about the timeline of the negotiations and his retirement plans, and then, on the fifth page, Lucas let the cat out of the bag.
Asked whether members of the original Star Wars cast will appear in Episode VII and if he called them before the deal closed to keep them informed, Lucas says, “We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison—or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation. So I called them to say, ‘Look, this is what’s going on.’ ” He pauses. “Maybe I’m not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them.” Then he adds: “I won’t say whether the negotiations were successful or not.”
So when Lucas announced a few years ago that he was finished with Star Wars movies, he wasn't exactly finished with Star Wars movies. Maybe now, with $4 billion, he can afford to retire. Link -via USA Today
PS: A statement from Lucasfilm said:
Even though there are a few reports out there about casting for Episode VII, we are not making any announcements at this time. As Yoda said, "Always in motion is the future."
It's magic! Or science, actually, because this trick is from Steve Spangler. THe static electricity in the balloon is the key.
When an object has a negative charge, it will repel the electrons of other objects and attract that object’s protons. When the neutrally charged object is light enough, like the match in this case, the negatively charged object will attract the lightweight object. But try attracting a match while it’s laying on a table... it doesn’t work! You need to reduce the amount of other forces acting on the match for this experiment to work, and that’s why you balance the match on the rim of a nickel. Balancing the match enables less surface area to be directly effected by friction, which enables the match to rotate more freely.
The real challenge is to get these things to balance, and then keeping the cat from jumping on the table and ruining it. Link -via Geeks Are Sexy
It started out as a simple picture post, then the comment thread went in a different direction and became something special. Redditor gxace has fingers that don't bend, so he does not have the wrinkles on the inside of his knuckles that the rest of us have. That was mildly interesting, but then someone asked, "How did you take that picture?"
Well, I should think so! Young lady, you are not leaving this barn without looking decent. Call it research if you like, but as this article from a 1937 issue of Modern Mechanix reminds us, even cows must comport themselves with modesty.
Veronica's bookcase elegantly displays the beauty of the written word and the reading life. She writes:
My apartment is quite small and I am lawyer so I have to read a lot. I really enjoy it,and didn't want to have the typical 50 inch tv on my living room wall...
I needed a library but it had to be different, so I made one inspired by a mandala. I think the carpenter did a great job, exactly what I designed!
Oh, no, it's not just one platoon marching on one occasion while chanting out the theme song of SpongeBob SquarePants. As you can see from this compilation video, it's a really popular marching song in the Russian military. Bikini Bottom is now well defended.
-via Yababoon
Artist Phil Postmas saw the many Pixar/Marvel mashups done after the announcement that Disney was buying Marvel comics. And then he went to work to do more of them, and better. The results are quite faithful to the Pixar style while well illustrating Marvel super heroes and villains. Notice how Catwoman bears a strong resemblance to Colette Tatou of Ratatouille. Peter Parker reminds me of Alfredo Linguini-Gusteau. The redhead looks familiar, too. Link -via Unreality
Bill Gekas, an internationally award-winning photographer, feels inspired by the visual ambiances of the Old Masters of Western European painting, particular Vemeer and Rembrandt. He duplicated them magificently in a photo series that includes his daughter and himself:
Using various models, including his five-year-old daughter, Gekas has brilliantly re-imagined the masters, replicating the lighting style for which they are famous. The so-called Rembrandt lighting is characterised by strong window light falling on one side of the subject's face and body, producing shadows amid a rich glow. Gekas uses artificial light to simulate the admired window-lighting effect.
Gallery, Photographer's Website and News Story -via American Digest
Chess, the great game of simulated warfare, has existed for 1500 years and, according to science fiction, will command humanity's intellectual attraction for at least hundreds more. Standard chess is plenty of fun, but why not mix it up? Here are twelve variations of the game that you might not know about.
1. 3RD Millennium Chess is played on a single board, but one that's been wrapped into a cylinder. To make it even more complex, knights can move in tandem. Players can move both knights together at the same time on the same square or split them apart for independent movement.
2. Chess Cubic, invented by Robert Bell, wraps a 96-square board around a cube. Kings, queens and bishops are sheltered by pawns, rooks and knights. Pawns are given two different colors to distinguish their directions of movement.
3. Rollerball Chess got its name from the dystopian science fiction movie of the same name. This variant, invented by Jean-Louis Cazaux in 1998, gives each side 2 pawns, 1 king, 2 rooks and 1 bishop. They move on a board resembling a rollerskating rink.
Supersleuth and Bathroom Reader Institute stalwart Jay Newman has a batch of simple yet compelling puzzles. See if you can figure them out before you peek at the answers!
(Image credit: Flickr user Giedre Zitkauskaite)
1. BRIGHT THINKING
Uncle John gave Amy this challenge: "In the hallway there are three light switches," he said. "And in the library there are three lamps. You may enter the library only once -the lamps must be turned off when you do. At no time until you enter can you can you open the door to see into the library. Your job is to figure out which switch corresponds to which lamp."
"Easy," said Amy.
How did she do it?
2. MYSTERY JOB
Brian works at a place with thousands of products, some of them very expensive. People take his products without paying for them -as many as they can carry- and then just walk out. All that Brian requests of his customers is that they keep their mouths shut.
Where does Brian woirk?
3. SIDE TO SIDE
Uncle John stood on one side of a river; his dog, Porter, stood on the opposite side. "Come here, Porter!" said Uncle John. Although there were no boats or bridges, Porter crossed the river without getting wet. How?
4. SPECIAL NUMBER
Math usually stumps Thom, but when Uncle John showed him this number, he knew right away what makes it unique. Do you?
8,549,176,320
5. TIME PIECES
"Everyone knows that the sundial is the timepiece with the fewest moving parts," Jay told Julia. "Do you know what timepiece has the most moving parts?" She did. Do you?
6. WORDPLAY
"Weird Nate sent me this list of words," said Uncle John. "He says there's something unusual about them. But what?" Jay figured it out. Can you?
revive, banana, grammar, voodoo, assess, potato, dresser, uneven
Continue reading if you are ready to check the answers.
Ah, that classic video game! Which is better, adulthood or childhood? Well, let me just share with you this bit of bad news: there are no cheat codes for adulthood.
Video Link -via Yababoon
Do you remember the British ad campaign that discourages immigration from Romania and Bulgaria? That peeved some Romanians. They responded with their own ads that encourage Britons to immigrate to Romania. That nation, the authors of the website Gandul claim, is a land filled with beautiful women, lovely roads and palatable food.
Link -via Marginal Revolution | Images: Gandul
