Port-A-Pint Portable Beer Glass - $7.95
Don't go unprepared to your next party. Forget those clumsy disposable cups, bring your own portable beer glass. The Port-A-Pint Beer Glass pops open in seconds with a flick of your wrist. From the Neatorama Shop: http://shop.neatorama.com/product-info.php?portapint-beer-glass-pid571.html
Miss Cellania's post of the mysterious man in people's dreams reminded me of my own personal nightmare. Here's the robot that's been haunting my dreams. Have you been dreaming of the same bot?
The following is reprinted from The Best of The Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. Think everything you read in the newspaper or see on the news has been checked for accuracy? Think again. Sometimes the media will repeat whatever they're told ... and Joey Skaggs is the guy set out to prove it. Photo: Joey Skaggs MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO Joey Skaggs' career as a hoax artist began in the mid-1960s when he first combined his art training with sociopolitical activism. He wanted to show that instead of being guardians of the truth, the media machine often runs stories without verifying the facts. And in proving his point, he perpetrated some pretty clever hoaxes. HOAX#1: A CATHOUSE FOR DOGS In 1976 Skaggs ran an ad in New York's Village Voice for a dog bordello. For $50 Skaggs promised satisfaction for any sexually deprived Fido. Then he hosted a special "night in the cathouse for dogs" just for the media. A beautiful woman and her Saluki, both clad in tight red sweaters and bows, paraded up and down in front of the panting "clientele" (male dogs belonging to Skaggs' friends). The ASPCA lodged a slew of protests and had Skaggs arrested (and indicted) for cruelty to animals. The event was even featured on an Emmy-nominated WABC News documentary. But the joke was on them - the "dog bordello" never existed. (The charges were dropped.) HOAX #2: SAVE THE GEODUCK! It's pronounced "gooey-duck" and it's a long-necked clam native to Puget Sound, Washington, with a digging muscle that bears a striking resemblance to the male reproductive organ of a horse. In 1987 Skaggs posed as a doctor (Dr. Long) and staged a protest rally in front of the Japan Society. Why? Because according to "Dr. Long," the geoduck was considered to be an aphrodisiac in Asia, and people were eating the mollusk into extinction. Although neither claim had the slightest basis in fact, Skaggs' "Clamscam" was good enough to sucker WNBC, UPI, the German news magazine Der Spiegel, and a number of Japanese papers into reporting the story as fact. HOAX #3: MIRACLE ROACH HORMONE CURE Skaggs pretended to be an entomologist from Columbia named Dr. Josef Gregor in 1981. In an interview with WNBC-TV's Live at Five, "Dr. Gregor" claimed to have graduated from the University of Bogota, and said his "Miracle Roach Hormone Cure" cured the common cold, acne, and menstrual cramps. An amazed Skaggs remarked later, "Nobody ever checked my credentials." The interviewers didn't realize they were being had until Dr. Gregor played his theme song - La Cucaracha. HOAX #4: SERGEANT BONES AND THE FAT SQUAD In 1986 Skaggs appeared on Good Morning, America as a former Marine Corps drill sergeant named Joe Bones, who was determined to stamp out obesity in the United States. Flanked by a squad of tough-looking commandos, Sergeant Bones announced that for "$300 a day plus expenses," his "Fat Squad" would infiltrate an overweight client's home and physically stop them from snacking. "You can hire us but you can't fire us," he deadpanned, staring into the camera. "Our commandos take no bribes." Reporters from the Philadelphia Enquirer, Washington Post, Miami Herald, and the New York Daily News all believed - and ran with - the story. HOAX #5: MAQDANANDA, THE PSYCHIC ATTORNEY On April 1, 1994, Skaggs struck again with a 30-second TV spot in which he dressed like a swami. Seated on a pile of cushions, Maqdananda asked viewers, "Why deal with the legal system without knowing the outcome beforehand?" Along with normal third dimensional legal issues - divorce, accidental injury, wills, trusts - Maqdananda claimed he could help renegotiate contracts made in past lives, sue for psychic surgery malpractice, and help rectify psychic injustices. "There is no statute of limitations in the psychic realm," he said. Viewers just had to call the number at the bottom of their screen: 1-808-UCA-DADA. In Hawaii, CNN Headline News ran the spot 40 times during the week. When people called the number (and dozens did), they were greeted by the swami's voice on an answering machine, saying, "I knew you'd call." Skaggs later revealed that the swami - and his political statement about proliferation of New Age gurus and ambulance-chasing attorneys - was all a hoax. |
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| The article above is reprinted with permission from The Best of the Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. The Bathroom Reader Institute handpicked the most eye-opening, rib-tickling, and mind-boggling articles from everything they have written over the last ten years and carefully crammed them into 576 pages of the book. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute has published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. Check out their website here: Bathroom Reader Institute. | |
| BONUS: BULLSH*T AND BALLS, a document about Joey Skaggs. [YouTube Clip] More: Joey Skaggs website | Art of the Prank | Article at Wikipedia | |
Raise money for charity and support indie artists? What can be better than that? Joe Alterio has relaunched his website Robots + Monsters, where you can order a very cool custom drawings - the ones above are our very own Neatorama monster and robot.
Your drawing will be made either by Joe himself or one of the site's contributors: John Martz, Travis Pitts, and Adam "Apelad" Koford. Portion of the proceeds will go to support a charity (right now it's Water.org which provides safe water and sanitation to communities in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America) and to help support the artist.
Here's how to get yours: Link
Bombs Away Shot Glass - $19.95 (set of 2)
The next time you throw a party, make sure you're well armed. The Bombs
Away Shot Glasses will definitely make your party a (direct) hit. These shot glasses are made from high-quality double-walled borosillicate glass with a frosted interior. And as you can see, it is shaped like the tail fins of an aerial bomb.
New at the Neatorama Shop: http://shop.neatorama.com/product-info.php?bombs-away-shot-glass-pid572.html
Forget heroes. I find villains much more interesting. Here's a wonderful montage titled: Heart of Darkness, a Montage, Cinema's Top Human Villains, by YouTube user hh, listing 45 of the best (worst?) Hollywood baddies.
The music, East Hastings by Goodpseed You! Black Emperor, certainly contributed much to the awesomeness of the clip.
I'm glad that Kathy Bates' character Annie Wilkes from the movie Misery made the list. Who do you think is the best Hollywood villain?
Link [embedded YouTube clip]
Is the belief in (or fear of, depending on your point of view) God necessary to have a "good" society? What would a nation of atheists look like? Would a godless country lead to lawlessness and immorality?
We actually don't have to wonder - there is a place where the great majority of people are not only not religious - they're can't even be bothered about the questions of faith, God, and life's meaning.
Sociologist Phil Zuckerman spent a year in Denmark and Sweden, the least religious countries in the world and perhaps even in history, and interviewed people about their religious beliefs (technically, the absence of such beliefs). He published his findings last year (Oct 2008) in his book Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment.
TYWKIWDBI has some thought-provoking excerpts from the book:
Here's the premise of [Zuckerman's] book:
“First of all, I argue that society without God is not only possible, but can be quite civil and pleasant. This admittedly polemical aspect of my book is aimed primarily at countering the claims of certain outspoken, conservative Christians who regularly argue that a society without God would be hell on earth: rampant with immorality, full of evil, and teeming with depravity. Well, it isn’t. Denmark and Sweden are remarkably strong, safe, healthy, moral, and prosperous societies…”
He's careful not to extol the absence of religious belief as preferable for a society, while arguing strongly that when religious belief (or dogma) is absent, society can crank along just fine. Herewith some excerpts and some of my notes from the book -
p. 6 - “…their overall rates of violent crime – such as murder, aggravated assault, and rape – are among the lowest on earth. Yet the majority of Danes and Swedes do not believe that God is “up there,” keeping diligent tabs on their behavior… In fact, most Danes and Swedes don’t even believe in the very notion of “sin.” Almost nobody in Denmark and Sweden believes that the Bible is divine in origin. And the rate of weekly church attendance in these Nordic nations is the lowest on earth…” [...]
p. 10 – "When they say they are “Christian” they are just referring to a cultural heritage and history. When asked what it means to be Christian, they said 'being kind to others, taking care of the poor and sick, and being a good and moral person.' They almost never mentioned God, Jesus, or the Bible in their explanation of Christian identity. When I specifically asked these Nordic Christians if they believed that Jesus was the Son of God or the Messiah, they nearly always said no – usually without hesitation. Did they believe that Jesus was born of a virgin or that he rose from the grave? Such queries were usually met with genuine laughter – as through the mere asking was rather silly.”
I haven't read it, but will definitely put this fascinating book on the short list of must-reads this year: Link
Here's a fascinating interview with Phil Zuckerman about, amongs other things, the difference of being a religious Christian in America and a cultural Christian in Denmark and the rise of Islam because of the immigration from Africa:
I'm sad to say that I actually enjoyed these: a list of 10 awesomely terrible one-hit wonders of the 90's over at Karaoke Lounge blog.
How can anyone not groove to OMC's How Bizarre, Chumbawamba's Tubthumping and Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy? Certainly brings back memories ... ah, good times!
Link [embedded YouTube clips] - via Rue The Day
This story has got everything: baddies with machine guns, log riding off a waterfall, heavy machinery, pretty lady in bed ... totally plausible, too.
Here's a short clip for Canal+ titled "Wardrobe (The Closet)" by BETC EURO RSCG advertising agency, directed by Matthijs van Heijningen.
You won't guess the ending: Link [embedded YouTube]
Just because you're a polygamist, it doesn't mean that you can't also be frugal. South African Milton Mbhele just got married to 4 brides the frugal way: he did it all at once!
The four brides, dressed in flowing white gowns, walked down the aisle together, before saying “We do” to the 44-year-old groom.
Mr Mbhele says he didn’t marry them purely for the spectacle but because it also made financial sense. “I don’t know how much four different weddings would have cost me but I know doing it all at once saved money,” he explains.
“For example I only needed one tent, I needed to hire one caterer and one photographer for the entire ceremony.”
How can you make the Dark Knight just that much more awesome? Simply
add a little Neil Patrick Harris - that's right, in the new TV cartoon, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, NPH plays the Music Meister, who can control people by singing.
The result is a whimsical Batman musical, titled Mayhem of the Music Meister (series producer James Tucker described that the "plot itself is just a framework, an excuse to have everybody sing!" Every Batman episode should be like this! Link [embedded YouTube clips]
Almost a decade since the infamous photo of a great white shark attacking a Pave Hawk helicopter circulated the web via emails, things are looking up for the infamous shark. First, it got a movie deal (kind of) with the release of Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus ... and now, its own Flash game.
Behold, Miami Shark by Felix Wiesner (Wiesi), where the object of the game is to eat your way in the Florida Keys while bringing down helicopters and planes. I won't spoil the surprise about what sort of planes ...
Awesome? JAWESOME! Link [Flash Game]
By the way the original shark photo was taken by South African photographer Charles Maxwell who was interviewed by National Geographic about the whole deal.
So. Unless you've been living in a cave, I'm sure you've heard that President Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize (surprise!)
The blogosphere was immediately abuzz with ... confusion. What has Obama done to deserve to win? Isn't it a bit premature? Are Norwegians just Obamafans? And does this mean that the Olympics is ditching Rio to come to Chicago? You'd expect this kind of reaction from his political opponents, but it seems that *everyone* was scratching their heads.
I know, I know - no politics on Neatorama. But I'm genuinely puzzled. What do you guys think is going on?
[poll=13]And yes, I made that Super Obamario Bros. photoshop
Forget the CIA, Frank Warren is probably the world's best keeper of secrets.
In 2004, Frank started a project called PostSecret, in which he printed 3,000 blank postcards inviting people to mail him their secrets anonymously. He handed out the postcards to strangers, left them between book pages in bookstores and libraries, and even left some on park benches. He got 100 back and posted the secrets on his blog.
Apparently, that struck a nerve: PostSecret went viral and since he started it, Frank has received nearly half a million postcards in his mailbox and over a quarter billion visitor to www.postsecret.com. The website spawned various exhibitions, events and PostSecret books, as well as various parodies (a true measure of one's popularity in today's world, I'm afraid).
The latest book, PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God was inspired by a collection of more than 300 postcards that were part of the "All Faiths Beautiful" exhibit at the American Visionary Art Museum. The book contains never-before-seen secrets that, as Frank so eloquently wrote, "expose the common landscape of our private lives - from our embarrassing desires to our hidden acts of kindness; from the private prayers of atheists to the voiceless doubt of believers."
Frank, a Neatoramanaut himself (that's him wearing one of our T-shirts), has kindly agreed to sit down for a virtual interview with us. You are invited to submit comments and questions for Frank - we'll pick 5 of the best comments/questions to get a free autographed PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God book.
Neatorama: Congratulations on the new book (it's fantastic, by the way, I was engrossed reading it for a couple of hours) - did you ever think that PostSecret would be as popular as it is today when you started it?
Frank Warren: No, I have been shocked. In addition to the five PostSecret books, the website has had over 250,000,000 hits.
I knew that if I could earn people's trust and build a collection of creative and authentic secrets it would be very special for me. It's great to know so many others appreciate these extraordinary confessions too.
Neatorama: Why do you think it has been so successful?
Frank: I think people find some of the funny and sexual postcards amusing but eventually you come across a secret that you might recognize as one of your own. One you might be hiding from yourself. I think it is those moments of epiphany and empathy that have allowed the PostSecret community to grow.
Neatorama: Your latest book focuses on life, death, and God. Can you tell us a little bit about the reasoning behind the topic?
Frank: PostSecret started as a lark, maybe even a prank, but over the years the secrets have become more meaningful to me. This new book, like all the books have never-before-seen secrets that touch on sexual taboos and some outlandish humor, but more than the other books, the new book has postcards that share some our deepest and most private feelings about the greatest mysteries of life. The parts that are always there beneath the surface but we sometimes forget about during our everyday lives.
Neatorama: What are some of your favorite PostSecret secrets?
Neatorama: It's been five years since you started PostSecret - how has it changed your life?
Frank: Knowing all these secret stories that are happening in so many of our lives makes life, people, and riding the subway more interesting.
Neatorama: What's next for you and PostSecret?
Frank: My favorite part of the project now is traveling to college campuses and sharing the stories behind the secrets at live events where audience members can share their own secrets - without anonymity, but sometimes with great emotion.
__________
Frank's message on YouTube
__________
From PostSecret Confessions on Life, Death and God:
Frank has kindly offered 5 free autographed copies of the book for a giveaway. Got any questions for Frank? 5 lucky commenters with the most interesting questions and/or comments will win a copy of the book (I'll post Frank's replies as an update).
Links: Post Secret Book official website (with bonus secrets) | Post Secret website | Post Secret Community | Post Secret Book on Amazon (affiliate link, here's the clean non-affiliate link if you'd like)
Stone Cold Ice Cube Tray - $7.95
Here's one for your next party: the Stone Cold Ice Tray that makes ice shaped like the moais of Easter Island! Perfect for your tropical drink.
From the Neatorama Shop: http://shop.neatorama.com/product-info.php?stone-cold-ice-cube-tray-pid570.html | More cool and unusual ice trays
