The countdown to Thanksgiving has begun. Be prepared for the dangers that lie ahead with a good sense of humor and these 6 great items from the NeatoShop. 

Cactus Knit Hat / Beanie for maintaining that cheerful look when in fact you feel incredibly prickly about having to be out grocery shopping for the 30th time in one week. Seriously, how is it possible that one meal requires so many trips to the market?

Extra Squishy Stress Turkey for keeping you calm during all the tense moments that Thanksgiving week has to offer. Whether you are traveling far to see loved ones or staying close to home, you are bound to have plenty of aggravation over the next few weeks. Think long lines, cranky people, culinary headaches, and family. Did we mention family? 

Family Shmamily ... I'm Here For The Turkey shirt. Comfy Thanksgiving attire is a must for surviving the holiday. This festive piece of apparel is incredibly versatile. It is the perfect shirt for playing football in the yard, eating a hearty meal, or curling up on the couch for nap. 

Someone forgot to take out the giblets. The bird is undercooked. The bird is overcooked. The dog ran off with the turkey. When culinary catastrophe strikes the Inflatable Turkey is there to save the day. A picture perfect turkey can be inflated in minutes. 

The Emergency Disappointed Sigh In Your Pocket for when your family dinner conversation has gone  off the deep end. We can't change who you are related to, but we can help you put the fun back into family dysfunction. 

The Grim Reaper - Finger Puppet and Magnet to remind people stay away from your precious leftovers. Hang him on your fridge as an ominous visual warning to others. 

Happy Holidays from the NeatoShop! 

During World War II, servicemen shipping out to the South Pacific would write their name on a dollar bill and tack it to the ceiling of their favorite bar the night before leaving. On returning, they would head to the bar, retrieve their dollar, and buy a drink. A veteran who knew that tradition stuck a dollar into the ceiling of the tiki bar Forbidden Island in Alameda, California, some ten years ago. He used a little paper umbrella to attach the bill to the ceiling. That started a tradition, as other patrons followed suit, many of them decorating their bills with doodles and messages. The ceiling was covered in paper money, as well as nearby light fixtures, when the bar's owner, Michael Thanos, decided to take it all down.

It was a bigger job than they had first realized. As it neared opening time, they had to stuff the cash in four big garbage bags to deal with at later time. "And it was a really dirty job. We had to wear gloves and face masks because there was layers of fire retardant and dust," reported General Manager John Peterson. When they got back to sorting and counting it, they were surprised to learn they had a significant amount of money on their hands.

"$10,367 to be exact," said John.

The even better part of the tale is what they did with the money. Read the whole story at Boing Boing.

(Image credit: Rusty Blazenhoff)

The Indiana Supreme Court is considering a strange case involving surveillance with a twist. The Warrick County Sheriff's department placed a GPS tracker on Derek Heuring's vehicle, after obtaining a warrant to do so. Heuring discovered the device and removed it. It was not labeled as belonging to anyone. Heuring left the tracker in his barn. When the police eventually figured out that the tracker was no longer on the car, they got a warrant to search Heuring's property on the grounds that the tracker was stolen. While searching for the GPS tracker, they found drugs, which led to Heuring's arrest on a number of felonies -one of which is the theft of the GPS tracker. The thing is, all the drug charges were only possible because of the theft charge, and how could removing an unmarked foreign object from your own car constitute theft? The police say they were just trying to get their device back, but the justices are looking at the bigger picture.

"I'm not looking to make things easier for drug dealers," Justice Massa said. "But if something is left on your car -- even if you know it's the police that are tracking you -- you have an obligation to leave it there and let them track you? If you then take it off you're somehow subject to a search of your home?"

Justice Steven H. David was equally skeptical.

"If someone wants to find me to do harm to me -- and it's not the police -- and they put a tracking device on my car, and I find it and dispose of it after stomping on it twenty-five times, I would hope they would not be able to go to a local prosecutor and somehow I'm getting charges filed against me for destroying someone else's property," Justice David said.

It could be argued that the device was a gift from the police. An anonymous gift at that, so how was Heuring to return it? Police maintain that every step of the operation was legal, so how could justices disallow the search warrant? What do you think?  -via Fark

(Image credit: TrackingHAWK)

Have you ever wondered how the idea of railroad trains came about? You might never have considered it, but the rails came first, and the locomotive followed. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was laid almost 200 years ago with the idea that cargo would be eventually pulled by some kind of moving engine, instead of being pulled by cables attached to stationary steam engines as had been done elsewhere. But what form would those engines take? The Rainhilll Trials were conceived as a contest to determine the best locomotive design. The railway directors offered £500 to the designer of the best engine, along with the potential to make history and a lot of money manufacturing locomotives. 

Ten locomotives put forward their names but only five actually arrived for the competition which began on 6 October 1829. Out of these only three were in serious competition. These were the Rocket, designed by George Stephenson; Novelty built by John Ericsson and John Braithwaite; and Sans Pareil, built by Timothy Hackworth. One entrant called Cycloped was an absurd contraption with a horse walking endlessly over a treadmill to generate power. Before exhaustion had killed the horse, it fell through the wooden platform and was disqualified. Timothy Burstall’s Perseverance was damaged en route to the competition, and spent the first five days of the competition in repairs. When it finally joined the race, the locomotive managed only 6 mph, lower than the minimum required speed of 10 mph.

That left three competitors. Read about the trials and the outcome at Amusing Planet.

Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition was the second to reach the South Pole. They had aimed to be first, but arrived to find Roald Amundsen and his team already there. Scott's men went down in history for not making it back back. Scott kept a diary, jotting down his experiences during that tragic trek as they coped with blizzards, exhaustion, and lack of supplies. Scott is believed to have died on March 29, 1912, soon after his last diary entry. He and his last two team members were only found eight months later. Scott wrote farewell messages to his friends and family, and a letter to his wife was written over many days. It says, in part,

Well dear heart I want you to take the whole thing very sensibly as I am sure you will — the boy will be your comfort. I had looked forward to helping you to bring him up but it is a satisfaction to feel that he is safe with you. I think both he and you ought to be specially looked after by the country for which after all we have given our lives with something of spirit which makes for example — I am writing letters on this point in the end of this book after this. Will you send them to their various destinations?

I must write a little letter for the boy if time can be found to be read when he grows up — dearest that you know I cherish no sentimental rubbish about re marriage — when the right man comes to help you in life you ought to be your happy self again.

I hope I shall be a good memory certainly the end is nothing for you to be ashamed of and I like to think that the boy will have a good start in parentage of which he may be proud. Dear it is not easy to write because of the cold — 70 degrees below zero and nothing but the shelter of our tent.

You know I have loved you, you know my thoughts must have constantly dwelt on you and oh dear me you must know that quite the worst aspect of this situation is the thought that I shall not see you again. The inevitable must be faced — you urged me to be leader of this party and I know you felt it would be dangerous — I’ve taken my place throughout, haven’t I?  

Scott's diary of the Terra Nova expedition is online -all 165 pages- when you have time to read it, but first read excerpts of his goodbye entries, inclusing the full letter to his widow, at Why Evolution is True. -via Nag on the Lake

You see, it was a trap all along. The "weekend" was just a block of time devoted to responsibilities that you didn't have time for during the regular workweek. When you run out of time to finish them (not when you finish them, as that will not happen), then Monday arrives. Lunarbaboon understands.

You know a movie is worth watching when the filmmakers listen to their fans.

Last April, I was greeted with a “Sonic The Hedgehog Trailer” on YouTube. Excited, I immediately clicked on the video, and was utterly disappointed. It was an atrocious version of the blue hedgehog, and I believed it was not worth watching over the big screen should it get released. Sonic’s appearance in the film butchered the childhood of many. Thankfully, the filmmakers listened to the cries of the fans.

Five days ago, Paramount Pictures released a second trailer for the movie, and, surprise, they fixed Sonic! Now he’s cuter, and more faithful to the original character design, and everyone loved the change.

Via Funny Or Die

What are your thoughts about the new trailer? Are you looking forward for the film?

(Video Credit: Paramount Pictures/ YouTube)

When Emily Buchenberger brought her puppy Billie, a 4-month-old golden retriever, to a puppy play hour, she was not expecting that Billie would form friendships quickly.

During this time, dogs between the ages of 8 and 18 weeks can romp around a gymnasium off-leash. With plenty of puppies to play with, Billie could have spent the entire time making new friends. But somehow, all the golden retrievers in the room found each other.

The golden retriever puppies then made a secret club under different objects, unseen by anyone. But what were they doing under there? That’s what a dad of one of the puppies set to find out. As he lifted up the plastic box, what can be seen may be considered one of the cutest moments in puppy history — the three puppies were seemingly holding hands.

“We found them all calmly interlocking paws,” Buchenberger said. “They definitely were not expecting to be exposed and immediately dispersed. Soon after, they met back up underneath the bridge to secretly play.”

(Video Credit: GoldenGirl_Billie/ YouTube)

Check out these puffers for puppies made by apparel brand Moncler. With the help of a fellow Italian company named Poldo, Moncler was able to tap into the dog couture market last year.

Building on the 2018 collection, this year’s range updates classic moncler styles in four-legged cuts. It also includes vests, hooded raincoats and leather leashes. Duvet vests come in six sizes with an array of colors including yellow, pink and blue, all naturally made with nylon laqué.

If this is not cute enough for you, I don’t know what will be.

(Image Credit: DesignBoom)

This is “Geometries of Light,” created by Chicago-based duo Luftwerk, architect Iker Gil, and sound designer Oriol Tarragó. The installation, which was shown in two locations, celebrates the architectural forms of Mies van der Rohe.

Both displayed in 2019, the shows were separated by one continent and approximately eight months; the German Pavilion display was on view in February 2019, and the second installation took place this fall at the Farnsworth House outside of Chicago.

The concept was was inspired by the structure’s apparent weightlessness, as it “seemingly floats perfectly on its pedestal”, Petra Bachmaier of Luftwerk tells Colossal. After an initial site visit to Barcelona in 2018, the artists decided to use “a specific tool to accentuate the clarity of the architecture with the laser level, a tool mainly used for construction sites to keep things level,” explains Backmaier. (Bosch Powertools provided the bluetooth-enabled three-plane lasers for both installations.)

Looks like something out of a sci-fi film.

(Image Credit: Kate Joyce/ Colossal)

Japan is known to be prone to natural disasters. Given this fact, the country should always be prepared for them.

Check out this beautiful fire extinguisher created by a Japanese company that has made firefighting equipment for over 130 years.

Morita Miyata is a Japanese company that was originally established in the late 1800s. In 1951 they became the first company in Japan to develop foam-based fire extinguishers. But despite their many achievements, they struggled with the fact that disaster preparedness continues to be removed from everyday life in Japan. So they established a new brand called +maffs and their first product is this gorgeous fire extinguisher.

The idea was to combine the enthusiasm they observed of people decorating their rooms, with disaster preparedness tools such as the fire extinguisher. The product, which is available for 10,000 yen (about $90) , has updated the traditional form using a clean, minimal shape and matte colors like white and black that work better with contemporary color palettes.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Spoon & Tamago)

This is Smudge. Smudge doesn't care for salad, or in the words of the Tumblr user who led him to virality, "he no like vegetals." What Smudge does like is sitting at the table during the family dinner.

"He eats dinner at our table. He gets really upset if he doesn't have a chair," said Miranda Stillabower, 24, Smudge's owner.

"Someone got up from dinner and he must have thought, 'Oh, this is my chair,' and he sat there. My brother's girlfriend took the picture."

OK, but what's with that expression, the one Stillabower sums up as "super unimpressed?"

"I don't know why he was making that face, but it's the best thing he's ever done," she said.

You can see Smudge at the dinner table quite a bit at Instagram. Soon afterward, Smudge's picture was paired with an image from the TV show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which people found funny.

These photos together is making me lose it pic.twitter.com/kJi9d8MpbG

— chey (@MISSINGEGIRL) May 1, 2019

The pictures were soon given captions. Any argument will do. You can track the rise of the meme known as "woman yelling at cat" at Know Your Meme. Continue reading for some examples of the meme. -via Nag on the Lake

Because a Big Mouth Billy Bass animatronic singing fish brings class and joy to every room, it only makes sense to multiply the number of Big Mouth Billy Bass in order to multiply the elegance and happiness.

And so the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club, a shuffleboard bar in Chicago (like an axe-throwing bar, but you play shuffleboard while getting drunk), bought 70 of these gems and mounted them on a wall.

It called in engineers to design custom hardware and software to make all of the fish in the chorus sing simultaneously. The result is, as you can see and here, magnificent.

-via Dave Barry

Colonizing Mars will be quite difficult, as the planet is cold and has hardly any atmosphere. So why is that? The difference between Earth and Mars is that we have a magnetic field that shields Earth's atmosphere from solar wind. Mars once had an atmosphere, but lost its magnetic field a few billion years ago, and its atmosphere was stripped away, its water froze, and here we are. But James Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, thinks it may be possible to install an artificial magnetic field on Mars.

Mars, of course, is frigid and dry now, but Green said the dynamics of the solar system point to a time when the planet will warm up again. He said that scientists expect the gradually increasing heat of the sun will warm the planet sufficiently to release the covering of frozen carbon dioxide at the north pole, will start water ice to flow, and will in time create something of a greenhouse atmosphere. But the process is expected to take some 700 million years.

“The key to my idea is that we now know that Mars lost its magnetic field long ago, the solar wind has been stripping off the atmosphere (in particular the oxygen) ever since, and the solar wind is in some kind of equilibrium with the outgassing at Mars,” Green said. (Outgassing is the release of gaseous compounds from beneath the planet’s surface.) “If we significantly reduce the stripping, a new, higher pressure atmosphere will evolve over time. The increase in pressure causes an increase in temperature. We have not calculated exactly what the new equilibrium will be and how long it will take.”

Scientists believe it would take a very long time, even with a magnetic field, but there's also the possibility of terraforming, or bringing in the gasses and life forms needed to make Mars a friendlier planet. Read about the idea at Nautilus. -via Digg

(Image credit: NASA)

Decades later, Art Nouveau was reborn as the hippie aesthetic. Even if you know all about that, you'll love the beautiful images in this video from Vox. Read more about San Francisco's concert posters of the 1960s here. -via reddit