A new study involved exposing parrots to different types of music to see what they enjoyed. They all bobbed their head in sync with folk and rock music and one seemed particularly fond of pop music, but they all had one thing in common as well -they all absolutely hated electronic music. Researchers noted that they looked particularly "distressed" when they played groups such as Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers.

While many humans can relate to this feeling, it's a little surprising considering how fond some parrots seem to be of sucking on the beads on their hoodies, like this guy. Doesn't he look like he's ready to rave?

Link Via io9

These two cubs at the San Diego Safari Park sure look like they have a good time together. What I wouldn't give to join in on the fun before they get so big that they'd accidentally tear my face off during play time.

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In some circles, he goes by the name "Walter Bite."He's become reckless since his cancer diagnosis and decided he has nothing left to live for.

His companion, Jesse Pinkdog, may be a drug-slinger, but at least he's a sensitive soul who would never hurt a child.

Link Via Hyper Vocal

Lockets are nice, but what if your heart belongs to a fictional character? No problem, just get a necklace modeled after his home that has a tiny version of your favorite character inside -like this great Hobbit Hole necklace with a tiny Biblo inside by Etsy seller GildedPixel.

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Mmmm...tauntaun gut spaghetti. Not a big fan? How about some Sarlacc pizza dip or maybe a Han-clair carbonite cake. Whatever your taste in food, if you like Star Wars, the Clutzy Geek's Star Wars feast should have something tasty you'll enjoy.

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He may still be a little wet behind the ears, but this little guy isn't going to stand for your lilly-livered snivelling ways. There's a new sheriff in town.

Link Via Cute Overload

These days, chocolate-covered bacon has lost its novelty as bacon has already managed to infiltrate every other food by now, so why not chocolate? On the other hand, there are still plenty of bizarre things to cover in chocolate in this big wide world of ours…and here are a few of the strangest.

Onions

Most of us would never want to eat a raw onion in the first place, so why someone would think that dunking the onion in chocolate would change that fact is beyond me. The flavor seems to be exactly what you would expect too, one reviewer said that if you’re curious, just bite into a raw onion and then bite into a chocolate bar. Strangely, these seem to be a regular item in certain Philadelphia candy shops.

Image Via AndWat [Flickr]

Pickles

It sounds like a joke about pregnancy cravings, but chocolate-covered pickles are all too real. In fact, there are ample Instructables telling you how to make your own, including this one, which uses only two ingredients: pickles and Magic Shell.

Carrots

If you’re trying to get your kids to enjoy healthy snacks, getting them to eat chocolate-covered carrots will probably work –but at that point, the veggies aren’t really healthy anymore, so you might as well just give them chocolate-dipped gummy vitamins at that point.

Potato Eggs

While chocolate-covered eggs sound pretty bad, so do mashed potatoes loaded with powdered sugar and shaped like eggs like the ones in this Paula Deen recipe. According to the reader reviews though, the biggest problem with this recipe is that it has four times as much potato as it should include –leaving the mixture as a soupy disaster that can’t even be shaped into eggs.

Roses

We already presented you with some fun trivia about the book-version of The Hobbit, but if you're interested in learning more about the behind the scenes actions involved with making the film version, io9 has you covered with all kinds of neat facts. For example:

Smaug Stole All Of New Zealand's Gold (Paint)
The greedy dragon's lust for gold could not be quenched even off the set. According to Scotsman The Hobbit crew used up all of the gold paint in New Zealand creating Smaug's lair. They used up so much paint that they actually had to pick more up from Germany.

That's a heck of a lot of gold paint!

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Camera traps manage to get the most candid and undisturbed photos of wildlife possible, which is why these great images from the BBC camera traps yearly contest are so darned incredible. Here is a jaguar eating a turtle, but some of the other images show bears sneezing, fishing cats prowling, pangolins sniffing the air and more. The full-range of images is certainly worth a long look.

Link Via io9

Sure, these Labyrinth door knocker earrings by DeviantArt user buzhandmade look amazing, but the first thing I'd want to do would be pull the knocker out of the right one's mouth -I always though it was so mean when she shoved it back in his mouth just to enter his door.

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Pssshhh...stuffed crust is so old hat. If you really want a surprising fun pizza treat, try this Pizza Hut monstrosity with two types of stuffed crusts -one with cheesy sausage and another with 3-flavor cheese. As if that didn't give you enough variety, it also has two sauces, pepper alfredo and salsa. As weird as all of this seems, the cherry still seems like an insane addition.

Unfortunately, you'll have to fly out to Singapore if you want to try a slice, but isn't that a small price to pay when it comes to this kind of culinary adventure?

Link Via The Consumerist

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Colonel Meow is known for being even angier and meaner than Grumpy Cat and it's easy to see why when you watch him exchange presents with his best friend Boots.

Via Laughing Squid

Three out of four cuties in this photo wish you a Merry Christmas...the last one, not so much. In fact, he wishes you a Merry "Die Human, Die."

Link Via I Can Has Cheezburger

We've already posted videos and photos of animals having a happy holiday season, but just in case you still need more adorable holiday images, this Oddee article is stuffed with 20 fantastic pictures and videos of critters having a happy Christmas.

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All you need to make your own great Santa hat is a little water to bend the cone and some warm red melting chocolate to add some color. Holiday Happenings has all the details to make your own.

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Everyone needs a nice gift for Christmas, but if you can't afford to buy them something, these great present cookies will provide a great treat packed with surprises.

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Zeon and I tried to put together a special Christmas video of our chinchillas for all of you readers, but Chachi and Cinderella just weren't having it. He barked the whole time and she suspiciously eyed the tree, ignoring the delicious papaya treats underneath.

Better remember to fill this stocking all the way up on Christmas Eve because wookies aren't exactly happy when their stockings are left empty. On the upside, there's nothing like a giant, appreciative wookie hug on Christmas morning.

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Neatorama readers The Campanelli Family started taking pictures of their puppies in front of the fireplace in 2006. When the twins were born in 2008, they were added right into the mix and the resulting yearly costumed pictures are utterly adorable. Every year,the kids and dogs are kept in the same order, from left to right: Max, Kyle, Beau, Aiden and Ben

2006

Merry Christmas to the Campanelli's and remember, if you have any cute pet pics you'd like to share, feel free to send them to jill@neatorama.com.

There’s something deeply polarizing about eggnog. People either love it or hate it and of those that love it, even they are usually at opposing sides when it comes to homemade nog versus the commercial variety. Whether you love it have drank gallons of it this year or hate it and gag at the very thought of it, here is a little trivia about the milky treat.

Image Via texascooking [Flickr]

What the Heck is A Nog Anyway?

The true origin of the drink is hotly debated, as is the reason for its name. Some, including Alton Brown explain that “nog” was a 17^th century slang for a strong beer brewed in East Anglia, England. Others say that the name was a combination of the words “egg” and “grog,” a term for a drink made with rum. When the words are put together to form “eggngrog,” it’s easy to see where “eggnog” would come from. As for the origin of the drink, it is believed to have come from posset, a medieval drink made with warm milk, booze and spices. One thing’s for sure though, before the drink came to America, it was popular with British aristocrats –but they called it an Egg Flip.

Its Patriotic Roots in the New World

In England, only the rich could afford the fresh eggs and milk required to make “egg flips,” but when the drink crossed the Atlantic, it soared in popularity as practically every American had access to these fresh ingredients and some kind of hard alcohol. Perhaps the biggest difference between the American eggnog and the British predecessor though is that brandy and sherry were the most common alcohols used in England, but these two items were heavily taxed in America so the locals instead turned to rum –which was particularly cheap thanks to a close trade association with the Caribbean. When the Revolutionary War made it more difficult for the colonists to find rum, they instead turned to using bourbon in its place –which is the most common alcohol used in eggnogs today.

George Washington was a huge proponent of the creamy mixture and helped cement it into the nation’s history. In fact, he kept eggnog on hand all year long. Of course, his was not just any eggnog. White House records show that his recipe included rum, rye, whiskey, sherry and brandy.

Need more proof of how important eggnog was in our fledgling nation?

Every Christmas, Macy's on Union Square partners up with the San Francisco SPCA to help introduce visitors and locals to the many adorable adoptable animals available at the shelter. As if the critters weren't cute enough on their own, the background decor makes each window memorable. In fact, you can actually watch the critters in the windows on the live webcams available at the SPCA's website.

Link Via Cute Overload

You’ve probably heard them over and over throughout the last month, and might even be dying for them to finally disappear again, but what do you actually know about Christmas songs other than the lyrics? Here are some fun facts about the carols you keep hearing.

The Man Behind The Music

While he hasn’t created every carol, no man has contributed more to the Christmas music genre than Jonny Marks, who wrote such classics as “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver and Gold,” and “Run Rudolph Run.” Interestingly, despite writing so many of modern day Christmas classics, Marks didn’t even celebrate the holiday because he was Jewish.

His career in carols all started when he wrote “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in 1949. The song was based on a poem that was written by his brother-in-law, Robert L. May, for the Montgomery Ward Company. The song was also his biggest hit, selling a total of 25 million copies, making the album the best selling record of all time up until the 1980s.

Sources: Wikipedia #1 and #2

The Best-Selling Single Ever

Because we might only listen to Christmas songs for a short part of the year, they often become some of the most enduring pop songs since they are a lot harder to get burned out on. In fact, the best-selling single of all time, with more than 100 million copies sold worldwide, isn’t sung by the Beetles, Michael Jackson or even Justin Beiber, but is instead by Bing Crosby. When you listen to “White Christmas” though, it’s easy to see why it has continued to sell so well throughout the years -Crosby’s classic crooning immediately sets the mood for Christmas, even seventy years after it was released.

Funny enough though, when it was featured in the film Holiday Inn in 1942, the song didn’t do well and was overshadowed by the movie’s other big hit, “Be Careful, It’s My Heart.” Within a few months though, the holidays were nearing and “White Christmas” started climbing up the charts. The melancholy, homesick vibe of the song only helped its sales, being as how it came out right during the middle of WWII, making it feel incredibly appropriate to both those away at war and those who stayed at home.

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Thank Hollywood

Think Christmas songs are too commercial now with Justin Beiber, Cee Lo Green and Mariah Carey topping the charts? Well, get used to it because that’s nothing new. In fact, two of the most widely celebrated Christmas songs were written for movies. As mentioned above, “White Christmas” was written for Holiday Inn, and the classic “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was first performed by Judy Garland in the 1944 musical Meet Me in St. Louis, even if the more popular version was recorded later by Frank Sinatra.

Like “White Christmas,” WWII was part of the reason “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was so popular thanks to lines like “let your heart be light/Next year all our troubles will be out of sight.” Interestingly, the song was originally much darker, but Garland and her co-star Tom Drake pushed creator Hugh Martin for a few rewrites to make it a little more cheerful. In fact, the lines above were originally, "It may be your last / Next year we may all be living in the past” –not quite as full of holiday cheer is it?

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This little guy knows exactly where to run on Christmas morning -right to the presents filled with treats!

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What happens when Hamlet the pig meets his Christmas light-up match? Adorable holiday frivolity, of course!

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Every year over 100 Christmas trees are ruthlessly massacred and why? -So the lions, tigers and other cats of the Big Cat Rescue have a fun enrichment at Christmas time. Even if they don't celebrate Christmas they still love rubbing their scent all over these new trees.

Almost everyone has a childhood picture of themselves perched up on Santa’s lap and while the youngsters sometimes cry and sometimes smile, Kris Kringle usually maintains his jolly expression of glee. But sometimes Santa just isn’t the Old Saint Nick we’ve come to love. Sometimes he’s downright creepy and here’s the proof. Here are some of the creepiest Santa photos in order of “kind of weird” to “better sleep with the lights on tonight.”

Special thanks to Creepy Santa Photos for their impressive collection of horrific images of Mr. Claus.

The only explanation I can think up for everyone’s expression in this photo is that Santa just told Flickr user RaGardner4’s son Dylan he’s on the naughty list and whatever put him there angered Santa to his very core.

I have no idea what’s going on with this Finnish Santa spotted by Flickr user esaskar. Is he trying to be incognito? Maybe he’s trying to be funny? Or maybe that’s just what Finns think American Santas look like. Whatever the case, the end result is just plain odd.

Here’s a sadly stereotypical Santa picture –Old Kris Kringle curled up with a bottle of booze. Thanks for confirming all the tales istolethetv.

While Santa masks are usually horrifically terrifying for no good reason, at least this Santa has a reason for looking so evil –it was apparently so cold in Edmonton that even Jolly Old St. Nick had to wear facial protection that made him look like a masked murderer. Of course, this isn't even close to the worst Santa mask anyway, as you'll see a few images down.

Not only is this guy making a creepy face, but he also looks just like the killer from Silent Night Deadly Night. Fortunately, Arleen was too young to have seen that movie at the time. Of course, these days she wonders, “I don’t know how my mother let me sit on his lap!”

You know what they say, "It's always sunny in Bethlehem" -or at least it is with these adorably tasteless Christmas cards by Etst seller CastleMcQuade.

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Every detail of this great amazing Grinch cake is simply amazing from the Whoville home at the bottom to the massive mountain with Max hanging off the edge to the Grinch's grouchy mug. With a cake this fantastic, you'd better re-read the story to everyone around before cutting into it, just so everyone can recall just how many details are incorporated into the design.

Link Via That's Nerdacious

He might not be great at abducting innocent victims or flying away before investigators can make it to the scene, but he just might be the cutest UFO you've ever seen.

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Did you know the original Tower of Terror was supposed to involve Mel Brooks? Or that Disneyland almost had an Edison Square? Throughout the years, imagineers had plenty of ideas that never transpired and Mental Floss has a great list of some of the most interesting projects that never happened.

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