This lovely fountain is called Fuente del Barco de Agua, which means "water boat fountain." You can see it at Playa de la Malvarrosa in Valencia, Spain, or you can see plenty of photos at My Modern Met. Link -via Laughing Squid
(Image credit: Flickr user Jesus Solana)
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When you see the many jokes about graduation, remember they are just jokes. Finishing your education is clearly an accomplishment to be proud of, when you consider the many folks who do not get the opportunity. As his daughter graduates this year, Dr. Harley A. Rotbart thinks back to his own medical school graduation in 1979 and what it meant to his father.
He was the most brilliant fruit peddler in the history of fruit peddling, the smartest man I ever knew. Deprived of a high school education when the Nazis raided his town of Klodowa, he came to America years later as an apprehensive, thickly accented refugee from the unspeakable horrors of Europe. Despite many years in America, the emotional scars were still there. He had a sense of inferiority and was intimidated by those around him who had an education. He was always socially self-conscious, acutely afraid of standing out for his lack of accomplishments. Within his circle of family and friends, dad was proud of who he was and what he had overcome. We knew he was proud of us, too.
It was only after his graduation ceremony that Rotbart realized how proud his father was. When you read about it, you'll need to have a hanky ready. Link -via Metafilter
Redditor Hika-Tamari asked "Americans of Reddit, what surprised you when you visited Europe?" Here are some of the more interesting answers:
The Italian's way of driving. Never in anytime of my life was I more paranoid of being hit by a moped.
I first went to Europe as a twelve-year-old kid, and I was shocked by how OLD everything was. Here, a church that's a hundred years old seems ancient, but in Europe you really do have ancient structures. The sense of centuries and millennia of well-recorded history having played out everywhere I went was sort of crazy. Obviously, we have ancient Native American history, but where I'm from that part of our culture isn't always evident.
And nudity! It was often no big thing in advertisements and television. Not so in America, where a single stray nipple can practically bring down the whole television system.
I also also surprised how much of the landscape reminded me of home. I'm from the American midwest and sections of Germany and Ireland looked just like I was driving through home. But then I'd see some small stone wall that had been around for centuries and I'd be reminded how different the landscape is!
how everyone uses normal speaking voices, and how loud i am as an American.
People in Scotland (Specifically Glasgow) are the nicest I've ever met, seriously. People would have friendly conversations with you at bus stops, and one person even lent me £2 spare cash at a gas station for petrol. It seems to be 90% of people there are like that. Very unusual.
Neatoramanauts, if you've traveled in Europe, what surprised you about it?
(Photo: We All Have Baggage luggage tag, now on sale in the NeatoShop.)
These sculptures are amazing! Tom Eckert, a professor of art at Arizona State University, carved these incredibly realistic sculptures of everyday objects. At the link, you can view more photos of his work as well as watch an interview of him.
Did you lose your cats? Redditor thingsaintjust found a pile of them sleeping on the porch.
Drusilla's Park is a zoo in East Sussex, England. On April 26th, there was a breakout when two raccoons escaped into the surrounding neighborhood. Turpin was found in another area of the park a week later and returned to her enclosure. But her sister Bandit remained at large until she suddenly was seen back in her enclosure when a zookeeper made an evening nose count. She has returned on her own!
Claire Peters, of Drusillas Park, said: “We were incredibly surprised to see Bandit return. Obviously we longed for her safe return but no one expected her to turn up. It is thought the sisters escaped after being spooked by a noise or unexpected movement, leading them to flee up the perimeter fence and through the electric deterrent. Thankfully neither appears to be injured.”
Bandit's identity was confirmed by a scan of her embedded microchip. She apparently found that the grass was not greener on the other side of the fence. Link -via Arbroath
(Image credit: Drusilla's Park)
All you need is toothpicks, a sharp knife and a steady hand. In a few minutes, you'll have a healthy food item that still won't fool your kids one bit.
-via Obvious Winner
(Photo: unknown)
Oliver Burton, 10, is fighting a form of bone cancer. He wanted to have tea with Queen Elizabeth II. Unfortunately, she was not available. But Helen Mirren, the actress who portrayed the Queen in a 2006 biopic and in an ongoing stage production, was. Tara Brady of The Daily Mail writes about Dame Mirren's in-character meeting with Oliver:
Catherine and father James were so delighted that their son actually thought the actress was the real Queen.
His father James Browne said: 'She stayed in character for the whole thing. Oliver thought she was the real Queen, and well, that's good enough for us.
'She was really lovely. She did the whole thing - had a butler there, was dressed in costume and did it all properly for him.
'She sat in Oliver's wheelchair and gave him her big chair. She had a glass of coke together and biscuits and little sandwiches and they even brought in her corgis from the show, Coco and Roco.
'She was wonderful and in some of the photos you do a double take because she really does look like the real Queen.
'She knighted him and told everyone that they had to call him Sir Oliver. He had a brilliant day.
He took his British flag and got her to sign it and just waved and waved it all day.'
At the link, you can see photos of their meeting.
Link -via The Mary Sue
(Image: Panthé Pictures)
Photo: Francisco Mignorance
Francisco Mingorance snapped this photo of a fennec fox walking against the wind in the Sahara Desert in Morocco, and submitted it to the 2013 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest. Link - via In Focus
Redditor Fidget08 snapped this photo of a tree with its bark blown off after it was hit by a lightning. Now who's gonna carve a baseball bat out of it? Via Laughing Squid
A juvenile fox takes advantage of a golf ball coming his way. This hazard wasn't explained back at the club house. Still, watching him play was probably more fun than the game. -via Daily of the Day
Ben's engagement ring is awesome not only because it lights up, but because it lights up when he and his girlfriend hold hands:
Putting a battery of capacitor inside a ring is nigh impossible, so [Ben] decided to power the LEDs with an inductive charging circuit. A coil of wire wound around kapton tape serves as the inductor and a small SMD capacitor powers three very bright and very tiny LEDs.
The inductive charging unit itself is a masterpiece of hackery; [Ben] wanted the ring to light up whenever he and his ladyfriend were holding hands. To do this, [Ben]‘s inductive charger is also a wearable device: a large coil of wire is the charger’s transformer and was would to fit around [Ben]‘s wrist. The entire charging circuit can be easily hidden under a jacket sleeve, making for a nearly magical light-up ring.
You can watch a video of the ring at the link.
(Image generated at Word Cloud for Kids)
What do the following words have in common? It's not really that difficult if you chip away at them for a while.
Sheath
Pirate
Ashamed
Brandy
Continue reading for the answer.
A long time ago in a faraway land, there lived a queen called Bubbles and her gorgeous daughter, Princess Porcelain. The princess wished to be married, but Queen Bubbles would not allow it -she never wanted Porcelain to leave the throne room.
So Bubbles devised a scheme to rid the palace of suitors. All a suitor had to do to win Porcelain's hand was to draw a piece of paper from a golden bowl. But there was a catch: there were two pieces of paper in the bowl. One said, "My Child," resulting in marriage to the princess. The other said "The Snakes," which meant the suitor would be thrown into a pit of venomous snakes, never to be seen again. Somehow, the suitors always seemed to end up in the snake pit.
One day a handsome knight named Sir Flushalot came along and Porcelain fell head over heels for him. The princess pulled him aside and whispered, "I think my mother is a cheat. I believe both pieces of paper says 'The Snakes.'"
Flushalot assessed the situation and said, "Fear not -I've got a plan."
Aware that he cannot expose the queen as a cheater, how does Sir Flushalot win Princess Porcelain's hand in marriage?
Continue reading to find out the answer.
___________________
This brainteaser was reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader.
Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!
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