John Farrier's Liked Blog Posts

9 Things You Might Not Know about Home Alone

Would a child alone hunted by criminals be scarred for life from the experience? Former child actor Macaulay Culkin is--literally. During one scene for the 1990 Christmas movie Home Alone, co-star Joe Pesci bit Culkin on the finger. It was in the script, but Pesci didn't mean to bite so hard. Still, he left a mark on Culkin's finger that he has to this day.


(Video Link)

That's 1 of 9 interesting facts brought to us by CineFix. Their researchers are great at finding fun trivia about movies. We've previously featured their video about The Hunger Games.

-via Blame It on the Voice


This Amazing Birdcage and Fish Bowl Is Unlike Anything You've Seen Before

(Photo: Cooper Hewitt)

And I don't open up my box of superlatives like that without good reason. The Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum owns this rare and bizarre artifact of early Nineteenth Century Dutch origin. It's both a birdcage and a fishbowl.

The fish live in the glass at the top. But the sphere in the center of the bowl doesn't open to the fishbowl. It opens only to the birdcage at the bottom. A bird inside the birdcage can fly up into the sphere. When it does so, it would appear to be flying in the midst of the fish.

-via Messy Nessy Chic


The Fire Truck Will Get Where It Needs to Go Even If It Has to Push a Police Cruiser out of the Way

A building on Montreal caught fire last September. Firefighters were eager to get to it as soon as possible, for it was blazing vigorously.

This took place in Old Montreal--the oldest part of the city, which has very narrow streets. It was hard for the firefighters to maneuver their fire truck to the scene. The fact that police had chosen to park their cars in the way didn't help. But it didn't stop the fire truck, either. The driver pushed the police cruisers out of the way, sideswiped a BMW parked nearby, and kept going.


(Video Link)

Now if only I could do this to people who waddle slowly in front of me down the middle of hallways . . . .

-via 22 Words


A "Shake It Off" Parody for Hanukkah


(Video Link)

Tuesday is the first day of Hanukkah, an 8-day Jewish holiday celebrating a miraculous event during the Maccabean Revolt. To mark the occasion, the musical group Six13 (warning: auto-play video) offers this lively parody of Taylor Swift's song "Shake It Off," which is embedded below.

The song helpfully summarizes the traditions and origins of the holiday in its lyrics. Here's a sample:

Back in 160 B.C.E.
Lived Judah Maccabee
His army was so weak
But they still beat the Greeks

Supply of oil wasn't great
But a miracle took place
It burned for 8 whole days
It burned for 8 whole days 


(Video Link)

-via Pleated Jeans


Taste the Rainbow one Color at a Time with a Color-Sensitive Skittle Sorter


(Video Link)

Standard Skittles candies come in red, yellow, orange, violet, and green. Do you have a favorite? To the best of my knowledge, they all taste the same. But if you're picky about the color, then this automatic Skittles color sorter is for you.

Alice Kassar, Jesse Checkla, Mikhail Rudinskiy, who are students at Cornell University, made it a class project. It exposes the Skittles to light, then determines the color based on the RGV values reflected back. A sorting arm adjusts to move each Skittle into the correct silo, which feeds it into a bag. Pull the bag across a hot wire to seal it and then you've got a bag of monochrome Skittles. 

-via Hack A Day


The Greatest Film Rating Ever

Why is the 1989 monster flick Godzilla vs. Biollante rated PG? It's not for foul language or frightening situations, but "Traditional Godzilla Violence." Besides being a great band name, Traditional Godzilla Violence should be the aspiration of every work of fiction.

That film, by the way, pits Godzilla against a huge mutant rosebush--a story as old as time itself.

-via Jeff Treppel


Needle Felted Benedict Cumberbatch

DeviantART member CatsFeltFeelings creates highly realistic dolls and figures using needle felting, such as this large head of actor Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role from the TV show Sherlock. She plans to build a body with it, including Holmes's trademark coat, scarf, and hat.

Her whole gallery is filled with impressive works. You'll want to check it out, especially if you're a fan of Adventure Time.


7 Reasons Why Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings Should Be Required Reading in School


(Photo: Pedro Dias)

Neither of these series was required reading for me when I was in high school, but Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was required reading when I took a children's literature class in library school. At the time, I was working full time and attending school full time, so I didn't look at the hefty Harry Potter novel on the syllabus with any joy. One afternoon, I walked into a bookstore, skimmed through a copy in 3 hours, and crossed it off my to-do list.

I didn't enjoy reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. But perhaps I would have if I had experienced it through a literature class led by a good teacher. Mackenzie Patel of the Huffington Post thinks that the Harry Potter novels and J.R.R. Toklien's The Lord of the Rings should be required reading in high school English classes. Here are her first 2 arguments:

1. Both novels teach the importance of loyalty, friendship and honesty (i.e. the classic trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione and the Fellowship). For example, in chapter 5 of Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince, "He [Harry] knew that Ron and Hermione were more shocked than they were letting on, but the mere fact that they were still there on either side of him... was worth more than he could ever tell them."

2. Both include advanced vocabulary that would be a boon when students have to take state-administered exams (i.e. I received a 790 on SAT reading because I read like a fiend). Lord of the Rings takes the gold medal in this category for including obscure words such as "malice," "unceasing," and "bestirred."

-via Geek Art Gallery

Do you agree with Patel's conclusion?



10 Ways to Offend People in Other Countries


(Photo: Brooklyn3012)

Practice has paid off and you're now good at offending people in your own country. But what about other nations and cultures? What may work in your own culture may not successfully offend people in others. Thankfully, When on Earth has a list of 10 ways you can offend people around the world.

For example, in Australia and New Zealand, it's considered snobbish to sit in the back seat of a taxi. Most natives, When on Earth informs us, sit in the front seat with the cabbie. So: into the back seat you go.


Kind Tortoise Flips Over His Buddy

Each of us, at some point in our lives, is a tortoise flipped over on his back, unable to right himself. We need some kind person to flip us back over. We need this tortoise, who helped a companion in need at a zoo in Taipei, Taiwan.


(Video Link)

-via Althouse


Last Week, A Sea of Fog Completely Filled the Grand Canyon

Last Thursday, visitors to the Grand Canyon in Arizona witnessed a spectacular event: the enormous valley filled up completely with fog. Natasha Greiling of Smithsonian explains that this event is known as a "total cloud inversion." That's when cold air becomes trapped in the bottom of the canyon beneath a heavy layer of warm air. This occurs once every few years at the Grand Canyon during unusual conditions.

Fortunately, the National Park Service staff who work at the canyon were ready. They took some amazing photos, as well as a time-lapse video of the event, which you can see below. It looks like the canyon is filling up from the bottom. 

-via Ace of Spades HQ


Mystical, Soothing Land Art by Sally J. Smith

Sally J. Smith is an environmental artist, which means that she uses the raw materials of nature to create ephemeral sculptures, which she then photographs and leaves in place. Flowers, stones, leaves, and ice are to Smith what paint and clay are to other artists. Although she has a studio at home where she paints many watercolors, the entire natural world is also her studio, as well as her gallery.

Smith recently published a 2015 calendar highlighting some of her more impressive works of environmental art. You can see more photos from it at My Modern Met.


Child's Chair Unfolds into a Dollhouse

Koichi Suzuno and Alicja Strzyżyńskaby designed this simple but clever piece of children's furniture. It's a dollhouse, a child-sized chair, and a storage container. Fold and unfold it as needed. You can see more photos at Spoon & Tamago.


Amazing Video: Elephant Picks up Litter, Sticks It in a Trash Can

Thornhill Safari Lodge in eastern South Africa posts this video and says, "If only we humans could behave in the same manner." Indeed! The elephant picks up 2 pieces of trash and puts them where they belong.


(Video Link)

Please note that I am unable to verify the authenticity of this video beyond the Facebook posting by Thornhill Safari Lodge and an article in the British tabloid Metro.

-via Nothing to Do with Aborath


Don't Text and Joust

He was preceded in death by Sir Read-A-Book-on-the-Steering-Wheel-While-Driving-down-the-Freeway. Dave Coverly of Speed Bump offers a warning that all jousters--especially teenage knights of dubious judgment--should heed.


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Profile for John Farrier

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