They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they could invent the Pee-Week Herman and unleash him upon the visitors of the park.
Pixel Riot, which mixes up characters and movies through seamless digital editing, now brings to the screen a mashup of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and Jurassic Park. Here, then, is the trailer for the cinema's next big thriller.
-via Dave Barry
It may seem awfully small, but a home with a front measurement of 20 feet is not unusual in New York City. However, a home measuring 20 feet across that boasts a living space of over 8,000 feet is a real head-scratcher! The mansion at 108 8th Avenue in Brooklyn is 83 feet front-to-back and comprises five floors, plus a full-size cellar and a roof deck. Built in 1900, it retains the original style and craftsmanship of that era.
The current owner renovated and modernized the home – including the electrical, plumbing, all bathrooms & kitchen, and added multi-zoned air conditioning & acoustic stereo sound systems. At the same time, the details were painstakingly preserved by master craftspeople. The list of lavish original details is endless: filigreed mahogany woodwork, an abundance of stained-glass windows, fretwork screens, Corinthian columns, carved newel posts, wainscoting, original inlaid parquet floors, 15′ coffered ceilings on the dining room floor, stunning millwork, and 6 lavishly detailed mantled fireplaces (3 converted to gas). Much of the spacious interior is devoted to communal living, including a music room/performance space with ideal acoustics, a library room that boasts the classic ladder, a dining room with original tapestries, a huge game room, a duplex kitchen that features custom stained-glass windows from the studios of Frank Lloyd Wright, a Juliet balcony for sipping a glass of wine while cooking, and a lower-level multi-windowed breakfast room that opens out onto a covered deck.
Considering the size, condition, and location of this home in Park Slope, you won't be surprised that the asking price is $7.3 million, but you could probably get it for an even seven. Yeah, you've seen this house in movies and TV shows, and you can see plenty of pictures of this beautiful mansion at Captivating Houses. -via Messy Nessy Chic, where you'll see more interesting properties available around the country.
Big fish each the smaller fish, who eat the even tinier fish, and so goes the circle of life. It's not only fish, but extinct sea creatures, too. A 240-million-year-old fossil found in China turns out to be a rare find- a fossil with the recognizable contents of its last meal inside.
The fossil, found at a quarry in Guizhou province of southwestern China, appears to show a 15-foot-long (5-meter) ichthyosaur (pronounced “ick-thee-oh-sore”) shortly after feasting upon a 12-foot-long (4-meter) thalattosaur. Regrettably, the ichthyosaur probably died shortly after its meal, having bitten off more than it could handle.
Ichthyosaurs were dolphin-like aquatic reptiles that emerged during the Triassic. This particular specimen belonged to an ichthyosaur species known as Guizhouichthyosaurus tangae, which grew as long as 33 feet (10 meters). Its presumed prey, a thalattosaur species called Xinpusaurus xingyiensis, was more lizard-like, with four limbs that it used to paddle through the water. The new fossil is the first direct evidence to suggest at least some species of ichthyosaurs were apex predators, similar to orcas today.
Read about the find, and the clues that hint at what happened all those years ago, at Gizmodo.
(Image credit: Jim Cooke/Gizmodo)
Everyone of us is connected to Mother Nature. Artist Wang Ruilin showcases this statement through his copper-and-paint sculptures of animals in states of repose, with bits of nature, such as polar ice caps and mountainous ridges, imprinted on their bodies. The results are majestic pieces of art.
… the creatures [evoke] Earth’s most sublime features through surreal placements.
See more of the artist’s sculpture over at Colossal, and get some glimpses into his processes over at Behance and Instagram.
(Image Credit: Wang Ruilin/ Colossal)
Couples always look forward to Friday nights and weekends, as they get to rest from work, and they can spend their time together late at night without having to worry about waking up early.
Sleeping in has been in Japan’s culture ever since the ancient times. Back then, however, there weren’t alarm clocks which you can just turn off whenever you like. Instead, there were roosters which crow naturally at dawn. And so, if couples want to sleep in and have fun during the night without being disturbed by the rooster’s crow so early in the morning, they attempt to get the chicken drunk with sake. This scene is depicted in Harunobu Suzuki’s print titled Niwatori to Danjo (“a rooster and a couple”).
And judging by the look on it’s face, the rooster may have caught on the the couple’s plan. This print, along with many others, is part of a large Ukiyo-e exhibition in Tokyo that’s going on now through September 22, 2020.
(Image Credit: Harunobu Suzuki/ Spoon & Tamago)
Paying homage to the Volkswagen Beetle Type 1 (also called the “bug”), Aldekas Studio reveals this concept of a retro-styled, custom-framed mini-kart made from the fenders of the aforementioned car.
Featuring an olive green look, the Bugkart Wasowski by Aldekas Studio takes the Volkswagen beetle’s fenders, headlights and turn signals and transforms them into a kart that features the car’s distinctive round shape. The red kart frame contrasts with the green of the fender, adding charm to the kart as well. A round, tall handlebar acts as the steering system while the original chrome side mirrors add to the classic look. Regarding the engine and transmission, there’s not enough info as here we’re only seeing the renderings.
The result is this weird-looking mini-kart.
Would you ride one if given the chance?
(Image Credit: Aldekas Studio/ DesignBoom)
If you’re looking for places you can visit in the future, why not look for some cool pools? There’s nothing wrong with the usual swimming pool, but if you’re planning to travel far, there’s also no harm in trying out some unique places, right? Check out Reader’s Digest’s feature of odd swimming pools from around the globe, from geothermal spas to the world’s largest man-made swimming pool. Even if you’re not planning to travel, it’s a list that’s still entertaining to see!
Now that question just sounds like a situation straight out of Lord Of The Flies. Don’t worry, no one has a tragic end in this one. The Boys State program is a one big civics lesson orchestrated annually by the American Legion, with each state hosting its own weeklong gatherings of high school juniors. The program has a lot of safeguards that prevent murder, don’t worry! Hyperallergic has more details:
The Texas Boys State program randomly sorts the teens into two political parties, the Nationalists and Federalists, with each party then electing various representatives, leaders, and a nominee for governor over the course of the week. Along the way are myriad public debates and mock legislative sessions, held at the University of Texas at Austin, which becomes a miniature self-enclosed society. (Again, one composed entirely of pubescent males, so basically Hell.) The gubernatorial election is the big climax that events are working toward, and the film’s main characters are the respective parties’ candidates and chairmen chairboys.
The Federalists play the more villainous role, particularly Ben Feinstein, a wannabe CIA agent who uses his position as chair to get a disquietingly savvy head start on ratfucking the opposition. Said opposition consists of two Nationalists who both stand out for being liberal, non-aggro POC in an overwhelmingly white, right-wing, and fratty environment. They skillfully use their rhetorical skills to bypass the biases stacked against them. Rene Otero wins over the party to become chair, while Steven Garza gamely earns their nomination for governor with a message of unity and a straight-shooting persona (he cites Bernie Sanders as his inspiration for getting into politics, God bless).
image screenshot via Hyperallergic
Sumer Walser Williams tells the story of some late-night visitors to her front deck- which is 12 feet above ground! A bear cub climbed up and tried out the wading pool, but only managed to wreck it. When he heard a dog barking, he was curious and looked in. Maybe he wanted a new friend to come out and play! Williams said,
Mom's reaction in my head played out as "Let's go, I have told you a hundred times not to bother people while we're raiding their house for goodies. We have to be silent. I've told you this. Why can't you seem to listen? I had to climb 12 feet up a pole to rescue your little butt. Get off their deck now."
The video ends with mama bear trying to figure out the best way to get her child back down to ground level. A good time was had by all. -via Bored Panda
Barbara Ketcham Wheaton always had a passion for cooking, and so when Julia Child and her husband handed Wheaton the keys to their house in the 1960s, she was thrilled. She had just been given the chance to explore Child’s collection of historical cookbooks, and she embraced that opportunity.
Now an honorary curator of Harvard University’s Schlesinger Library Culinary Collection, Wheaton was then in her early 30s, with young children at home. She had left an art history PhD program a few years before to marry historian Bob Wheaton, but she still had a passion for the past. When she discovered her love of cooking, and her neighbor’s trove of unique books, Wheaton wondered: What if she turned the same methodology she had learned in art-history classes to a more humble text—the cookbook?
Now, after 50 years, the public can now enjoy the fruits of Wheaton’s work in the form of The Sifter, an online database made by Wheaton, her children, and a team of scholars.
Part Wikipedia-style crowd-sourced database and part meticulous bibliography, The Sifter is a catalogue of more than a thousand years of European and U.S. cookbooks, from the medieval Latin De Re Culinaria, published in 800, to The Romance of Candy, a 1938 treatise on British sweets.
Know more about this database, as well as the history of food studies, over at Atlas Obscura.
What are your thoughts about this one?
(Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Sir Edmund Bedingfeld built a fine manor house with a moat around it in Norfolk, England, in 1482. Since then, Oxburgh Hall has been continuously occupied by Bedingfeld's descendants. As part of a roof restoration project, archaeologist Matt Champion was standing by to see what was underneath the attic floorboards, which had not been removed in all those centuries. What he found was more than he ever expected.
The cache is one of the most remarkable “underfloor” archaeological finds ever made at a National Trust property, the British heritage organization says in a statement. Together, the objects offer a rich social history of the manor’s former residents.
Among the discoveries are the nests of two long-gone rats that built their homes out of scraps of Tudor and Georgian silks, wools, leather, velvet, satin and embroidered fabrics, reports Mark Bridge for the Times.
The critters also repurposed roughly 450-year-old fragments of handwritten music and parts of a book. A builder recently found the rest of the volume—a relatively intact 1568 copy of Catholic martyr John Fisher’s The Kynge’s Psalmes—in a hole in the attic.
There were other objects stashed in the 16th century, along with some interesting finds from World War II above the floorboards. The Bedingfelds were staunch Catholics, which was dangerous in the Elizabethan era, when Catholic priests were tortured and killed for performing Mass. Researchers believe some of the objects found were related to secret, illegal rites of the time. Read more about the treasures unearthed at Oxburgh Hall at Smithsonian.
(Image credit: DeFacto)
Of Nero, the Roman historian Seutonius wrote:
In stature he was a little below the common height; his skin was foul and spotted; his hair inclined to yellow; his features were agreeable rather than handsome; his eyes grey and dull, his neck was thick, his belly prominent, his legs very slender, his constitution sound.
This add a bit of flavor to the work of digital artist Daniel Voshart, who used historical records with surviving portraiture to reconstruct images of Roman emperors from Augustus (d. 14) to Numerian (d. 284).
-via Geekologie
Believe it or not, the iconic smiley face didn’t just evolve naturally. The worldwide symbol for happiness, with its perfect circle, two oval eyes, and a large upturned mouth was created by graphic designer Harvey Ball in 1963. Ball was commissioned by State Mutual Life Assurance Company to create an image to boost staff morale, as My Modern Met detailed:
Apparently, Ball spent just 10 minutes drawing up a deconstructed smiling face on yellow paper—a surface he chose simply “because it was sunshiny and bright.” Ball was paid a whopping $45 for his now world-renowned visual.
At first, the insurance company printed Ball’s design on buttons and posters to give out to its employees, hoping to cheer them up. It’s unknown whether the “happy” memorabilia did the trick; however, the image quickly gained popularity. Yellow smiley faces started popping up on everything, from greeting cards and stickers to T-shirts and key rings. And although it is widely accepted that Ball invented the smiley, neither he nor the insurance company trademarked the now-iconic design.
Image via My Modern Met
Instagram has a lot of trends and hashtags going around. Some hashtags are for entertainment, while some are informative or done to raise awareness. You’ll see celebrities join in the movements with posting black squares or short clips of singing John Lennon lyrics. Another trend dominating Instagram is called #ChallengeAccepted. Women are sharing black and white selfies in the name of female empowerment, as Paper Magazine details:
As written by Taylor Lorenz for The New York Times, there are several possibilities as to where #ChallengeAccepted originated. Back in 2016, black and white photos with the hashtag first emerged, aiming to share messages of "cancer awareness," and "spreading positivity" in the years since.
Speaking to the Times, an Instagram representative indicated that the first post "for this current cycle of the challenge" was shared close to two weeks ago on the page of the Brazilian journalist, Ana Paula Padrão.
The Times also spoke to a public relations and "influencer marketing manager" at Later, a social media firm, who believed this round of selfies might have been inspired by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's speech on the House of Representatives floor last week, after Ted Yoho referred to her as a "fucking bitch." Feminist and female empowerment posts circulated on multiple social media platforms after Ocasio-Cortez spoke out.
Another popular theory is that the challenge derived from Turkey, where women have been said to be posting black and white selfies to protest gender-based violence there.
Writer and artist Mina Tunay shared a graphic detailing "what's going on in Turkey" at the moment, connecting the hashtag to high femicide rates in the country, the recent killing of university student Pinar Gültekin by her boyfriend, and information regarding "honor killings," police brutality and other forms of violence facing Turkish women within four slides. In its caption, Tunay writes, "Of course this is not the entire story but a general background."
image screenshot via Paper Magazine
Amateurs who won't take risks and who are complacent is what I got from this comical and entertaining video,
