Nevermind. Maintain low expectations so that when your hopes fall, they don't have far down to go. Cartoonist Jim Benton reminds us of the dangers of reading comment threads.
Except for Neatorama comment threads, of course. Neatorama commenters are brilliant, thoughtful, polite, good-looking and smell nice.*
Artist's Website -via Daily of the Day
*Except for that one commenter who always smells like an old gym mat. You know who I'm talking about.
They sure don't make bottles like they used to! Rob of What is It? pointed us to a neat collection of poison bottles of yore. Y'know, from the time whence poisoners take great pride in packaging their wares in collectible bottles. But what exactly did they sell?
Collectors Weekly Explained:
Beginning in the mid 1800's, poisonous substances came onto the market to control plants and vermin, and as surface cleaners. To prevent mishaps, poison bottles were given distinctive features, which today make them fun to collect. Colors like cobalt blue, inky black, and dark green ensured they were easily recognizable. So did raised lettering or inlays of the words 'POISON' or 'DEATH' (especially useful if you were fumbling by candlelight). Patterns included latticework, deep grooves, geometric shapes, and most commonly, the skull and crossbones.
Photo: Carlo Santambrogio
This is one glass house I would not mind living in, the only rule is no stones allowed. The house is a conceptual design by milano-based designer and architect Carlo Santambrogio. These are actually pictures of a very good rendering and not a real house. Not yet anyway. The house above is part of his glass house series and this one in particular is designed to be a "snow house." The grid structure of the house is made to be modular and can be designed into almost any configuration.
In his "cliff house" design, the house is elevated over a thin sheet of water, making it's occupants feel like they are floating above the cliff.
Photo: Carlo Santambrogio
While these concepts are beautiful, I do have a few hang-ups. One, how scary would it be at night? Let's be real, it would be the darkest house ever. Two, using the restroom and shower would be no fun for anyone at all. Finally, glass is great when it's clean, but then again you have to keep it clean and that is a lot of glass.
What do our Neatoramanauts think? Would you live in one of these homes? View more photos here!
Link | Via Design Boom
Jeff Wysaski at Pleated-Jeans must have taken a look at my daughter's art class assignments. In all, 18 classical paintings are interpreted by a modern teenager. These are not quite the interpretations the painter had in mind when creating these works. Link
Photo: A Fine Kettle of Ish
What may look like a typical mint cookie, is really a diabolical and possibly hallucinogenic absinthe cookie. Who wants one? Absinth has steadily been gaining traction as a popular drink since the beginning of the 1990s. It was originally banned from the US and many parts of Europe in 1915, somewhat rashly in retrospect. The claims of any real psychoactive properties have largely been exaggerated, and the drink is no more dangerous than any ordinary spirit.
The fine people over at A Fine Kettle of Ish have the perfect recipe to fill you craving for the mysterious liquid covered cookie. You don't even need that much to make it, just some standard cookie making ingredients, some high quality absinthe, and food coloring. Apparently it also goes very well with strong coffee.
Photo: A Fine Kettle of Ish
Link | Via Food Beast
Cases are arising of banks who begin foreclosure proceedings and then later change their minds, usually because they won't get much money selling a home. The original homeowner eventually finds out that they are still responsible for the house when they receive overdue property tax bills or bills for municipal cleanup. The house may have been sitting empty for years, rotting and vandalized, before they learn this because banks are not obligated to notify the homeowners they evicted.
No regulations require that banks let homeowners know when they change their minds about a foreclosure. So they rarely do, according to housing court judges, homeowners' lawyers and academics who study foreclosure problems. "The banks do not answer inquiries, they do not answer phone calls, they do not answer letters," says Judge Patrick Carney of the Buffalo, New York, Housing Court. His zombie-title caseload has swollen in the past few years to well into the hundreds. "The whole situation is surreal," he says.
And guess what? When this happens, you may still owe the bank for the mortgage amount, even if they ordered you to move out and abandon the home. Link -via Metafilter
(Image credit: Reuters/Jay LePrete)
It's a pity that these are at all necessary, but artist Ted Slampyak has filled a void with vintage-style propaganda posters for mobile phone use. There are six in all at The Art of Manliness. Someone pointed out that the people who need them are unlikely to heed them, but maybe such posters would let my kids know that I'm not the only one who is offended by their phone habits. Link -via Gizmodo
(Image credit: Ted Slampyak)
It's rare that Pixar scraps a project, but their work-in-progress Newt, which was supposed to have come out in 2011, had too many similarities to a certain parrot movie called Rio so the whole thing went the way of the dodo.
We may not get to see this film's amphibian stars in action, but at least we've got some beautifully painted concept art to feast our eyes upon, and boy are these panels bright!
Nothing like spending happily ever after in the Shire amidst the comfort of Bag End. This lovely creation was put together by Tiffany's Baking Company.
Link Via When Geeks Wed
We've all seen plenty of Tard fan art by now, but this is the first time I've come across any fine art sculptures of the master of grump. I think it's time artists start carving her in marble so hundreds of years from now, people will remember that once upon a time the world was madly in love with a frowny house cat named Tardar Sauce.
Portland, Oregon-based illustrator Kate Bingaman-Burt began taking photos of everything she purchased in 2002. In 2006, she sketched one thing she purchased every day, a project on which her first book Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today? was based. Book number two, What Did I Buy Today?: An Obsessive Consumption Journal, will be released in the Spring of 2013.
Bingaman-Burt's intention is to make an artistic commentary on conspicuous consumption. In an interview with The Great Discontent, she talked about a time in which she was a designer for a gift company and was expected to sell the product line at trade shows:
"When I wasn't selling, I would sit and watch people and try to figure out why they would be drawn to one product over another. I think that's where the fascination of understanding people's emotions behind purchasing different objects started.
I wanted to figure out why we put so much emotion onto objects. That's when I decided to study graphic design and consumerism. I wanted to intensely focus on one area and use design to talk through some of the things I was thinking about."
See more of the artist's work at her website. Link
(Image credits: Kate Bingaman-Burt)
Imnopeas has a great idea for a romantic marriage proposal. She baked an engagement ring inside a fortune cookie with an appropriate message. With a bit of decorating and a plate made for serving fortune cookies, it's a great presentation that may seal the deal.
Mark Sparfel, a French artist, transforms old, discarded furniture into animal sculptures. Some of them appear to be almost leaping into action in what Sparfel calls "poetry made from wood."
Link -via Design Boom
Redditor colt1hryh headlined this "Not photoshoped picture of Australia at the moment." Obviously, because even I can use Photoshop better than this! The comments are golden, especially this one:
Australian here. This actually looks like a pretty standard Friday afternoon.
Further updates may follow, if at all possible. Link
This cat is not a fan of video games, in fact he's terrified of the sound that Mario makes every time he jumps in Super Mario Bros.
Maybe he's suffering from post traumatic stress disorder due to his owner's anger management issues, or maybe he met a dog once who made noises like an old school video game. Game over kitteh!
--via Gamma Squad
