Behold the giant skull sculpture titled Very Hungry God (2006) by Sudobh Gupta. It's made out of hundreds of kitchen utensils, pots and pans. The 1,000 kg (about one short ton) sculpture is now on display at the Frieze Art Fair in Regent's Park, London: Link - via BB Gadgets
The following is reprinted from Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History AgainHate all that newfangled technology? Someone may just call you a Luddite. The origin of the term dates back to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Here's how the whole thing got started:
It all started with the weavers. For centuries, the weavers and lace makers of Nottingham, England, were some of the most respected artisans in the world. But the invention of the power loom and other machines, which produced fabric much more quickly and cheaply than the hand-weavers, put them out of business. Just to survive, a lot of them started working for miserly wages at the factories that produced cheap and inferior cloth they hated. But they simmered with rage at the factory owners who appropriated their life's work - and the machines that helped them do it.
WHOOPS! All of the sudden, factory looms started to break down. At first, just a couple. Then a few more. When asked what had happened, the workers would just shrug and attribute the damage to the mythical Ned Ludd. In fact, the disgruntled ex-workers were already meeting in private to plot their revenge. In the early months of 1811, they began sending menacing letters, signed by General Ned Ludd, to Nottingham factory owners, warning of dire consequences if factory conditions and wages didn't improve. Some of the bolder Luddites showed up in person to make their demands. Intimidated, most factory owners complied. Those who didn't found their expensive machines smashed, by the dozens, in after-hours Luddite attacks.
THE POWDER KEG IGNITES The rebellion leaked to nearby British regions. The first Luddites had been strictly nonviolent, venting their anger only on the hated machines. But in Yorkshire, the owner of Rawfolds Mill, aware of worker unrest at his factory, had prepared for an attack on April 11, 1812, by hiring private guards. Two men were killed in the clash. Seven days later, the Luddites killed a mill owner in the region, William Horsfall. The violence didn't end there. On April 20, an angry mob of thousands attacked Burton's Mill in Manchester. Like the Rawfolds mill owner, Burton knew trouble was coming and had hired private guards who fired on the crowd and killed three men. The furious Luddites dispersed, returning the following day and burning down Burton's house. In clashes with the military (who rushed into the fray) and Burton's guards, a total of 10 men were killed.
THE UPRISING COOLS DOWN A police crackdown ensued. Scores of leaders and rank-and-file Luddites were arrested and tried for their crimes. A lot of men were hanged; others were imprisoned or exiled to Australia, which put an effective end of the immediate uprising. There were further sporadic outbreaks of violence, but by 1817 the Luddite movement ceased to be active in Britain. Of course, the Luddites were right all along: the hated machines were making their jobs obsolete. These days, only a tiny fraction of the world's cloth is made by hand. And machines make almost every article that is found in the modern home, from shoes to electronics to furniture.
The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History Again. The book is a compendium of entertaining information chock-full of facts on a plethora of history topics. Uncle John's first plunge into history was a smash hit - over half a million copies sold! And this sequel gives you more colorful characters, cultural milestones, historical hindsight, groundbreaking events, and scintillating sagas. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. Check out their website here: Bathroom Reader Institute
Growing up, my father lovingly gave my brother and I three commandments that we absolutely, positively must not break: 1) no drugs 2) no religious cults and 3) no motorcycles.
Why no motorcycle? The way he put it: If you ride a motorcycle, when it rains, you get wet. When it's hot, you suffer, too. If a car hit you, you'd lose. If you hit a car, you'd lose as well. Now, how can one argue with that logic?
Apparently, Jeremy Clarkson of BBC TV's Top Gear show doesn't like motorcycle as well. If you're thinking of switching to a motorcycle to save on fuel, read what he wrote in his review of the Vespa scooter first:
If you use only the front brake, you will fly over the steering wheel and be killed. If you try to use the back one, you will use the wrong foot and change into third gear instead of stopping. So you’ll hit the obstacle you were trying to avoid, and you’ll be killed.
Then there is the steering. The steering wheel comes in the shape of what can only be described as handlebars, but if you turn them — even slightly — while riding along, you will fall off and be killed. What you have to do is lean into the corner, fix your gaze on the course you wish to follow, and then you will fall off and be killed.
As far as the minor controls are concerned, well . . . you get a horn and lights and indicators, all of which are operated by various switches and buttons on the steering wheel, but if you look down to see which one does what, a truck will hit you and you will be killed. Oh, and for some extraordinary reason, the indicators do not self-cancel, which means you will drive with one of them on permanently, which will lead following traffic to think you are turning right. It will then undertake just as you turn left, and you will be killed.
What I’m trying to say here is that, yes, bikes and cars are both forms of transport, but they have nothing in common. Imagining that you can ride a bike because you can drive a car is like imagining you can swallow-dive off a 90ft cliff because you can play table tennis.
However, many people are making the switch because they imagine that having a small motorcycle will be cheap. It isn’t. Sure, the 125cc Vespa I tried can be bought for £3,499, but then you will need a helmet (£300), a jacket (£500), some Freddie Mercury trousers (£100), shoes (£130), a pair of Kevlar gloves (£90), a coffin (£1,000), a headstone (£750), a cremation (£380) and flowers in the church (£200).
Got mod skills? Check out what this talented Japanese toy-modder did to a Nerf N-Strike Maverick gun with a little paint: Link (in Japanese) - via Super Punch
Got breadcrumbs on your keyboard? Don't whip out the large vacuum cleaner for a small job - just use this cute lil' dude: Henry Desktop Vacuum Cleaner.
Plus, look at its cute hat and eyes. Who can resist the cute anthromorphization?
Always Watching blog has a neat article about 25 independent films made on budgets less than $1 million (it's shocking that $1 million is considered cheap in moviemaking, but there it is).
Take, for example, El Mariachi:
Widely considered by many to be the definitive "indie" film, wrriter/director/producer/ cinematographer/editor Robert Rodriguez (of Sin City fame) made this ultra-low-budget production about a traveling mariachi who's mistaken for a murderous criminal in Mexico after raising $9,000 (only $7,225 which was spent) by volunteering for experimental clinical drug testing in Texas.
Rodriguez was able to keep the budget so low by adhering to a very strict expense limit, which basically forced him to not spend money on anything other than film stock, and even then only shooting one or two takes. Not having any real money to spend tested the ambitious filmmaker's abilities to solve problems creatively, leading to the implementation of a wheelchair instead of a dolly, having the actors signal scene numbers/takes with their hands instead of using a slate, using two 200-watt clip-on desk lamps for lighting, and most importantly, not hiring a film crew (he did all of the important work himself, and he used the actors who weren't being filmed to help out on the set).
Almost every year since 2004, artist Jess Bachman creates a visual guide to the United States federal budget called Death & Taxes (featured here on Neatorama before). The updated 2009 guide is out, and it's available from Jess' new venture WallStats (excellent blog about infographics there too).
From the aptly named Loony Design, here's a clever use of an old tennis ball: to hold your towel (and watch you in a creepy way) while you're taking a shower! Link - via OhGizmo!
Guernica by Pablo Picasso (1937) - turned into 3D art by Lena
Gieseke in 2008
Today is Pablo Picasso's birthday, and to help celebrate the Cubist movement
co-founder, here are Neatorama's quick 10 fun facts about the guy:
1. Picasso's Full Name Has 23 Words
Picasso was baptized Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan
Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima
Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso. He was named after
various saints and relatives. The "Picasso" is actually from
his mother, Maria Picasso y Lopez. His father is named Jose Ruiz Blasco.
2. When He Was Born, The Midwife Thought He Was Stillborn
Picasso
had such a difficult birth and was such a weak baby that when he was born,
the midwife thought that he was stillborn so she left him on a table to
attend his mother. It was his uncle, a doctor named Don Salvador, that
saved him:
'Doctors at that time,' he told Antonina Vallentin, 'used to smoke
big cigars, and my uncle was no exception. When he saw me lying there
he blew smoke into my face. To this I immediately reacted with a grimace
and a bellow of fury'" (Source)
3. Picasso's First Word: Pencil
It's like Picasso was born an artist: his first word was "piz,"
short of lápiz the Spanish word for 'pencil.' His father
Ruiz, an artist and art professor, gave him a formal education in art
starting from the age of 7. By 13, Ruiz vowed to give up painting as he
felt that Pablo had surpassed him. (Photo of Picasso as a 4-year-old-boy:
Source)
4. Pablo's First Drawing
Le Picador by Pablo Picasso (1890)
At the tender young age of 9, Picasso completed his first painting: Le
picador, a man riding a horse in a bullfight.
La première communion (First Communion) by Pablo Picasso
(1896)
His first major painting, an "academic" work is First Communion,
featuring a portrait of his father, mother, and younger sister kneeling
before an altar. Picasso was 15 when he finished it. (Source)
5. Picasso was a Terrible Student
No doubt about it, Picasso was brilliant: artistically, he was years
ahead of his classmates who were all five to six years older than him.
But Picasso chafed at being told what to do and he was often thrown into
"detention":
"For being a bad student I was banished to the 'calaboose'
- a bare cell with whitewashed walls and a bench to sit on. I liked
it there, because I took along a sketch pad and drew incessantly ...
I could have stayed there forever drawing without stopping"
(Source)
6. Picasso's First Job
Picasso signed his first contract in Paris with art dealer Pere Menach,
who agreed to pay him 150 francs per month (about US$750 today).
7. Did Picasso Steal the Mona Lisa?
Actually no, but in 1911, when the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre,
the police took in Picasso's friend, the poet Guillaume Apollinaire. Apollinaire
fingered Picasso as a suspect, so the police hauled him in for questioning.
Both were later released. (Source)
8. Cubism: Full of Little Cubes
Le Guitariste (The Guitarist) by Pablo Picasso (1910)
In 1909, Picasso and French artist Georges Braque co-founded an art movement
known as cubism. Actually, it was a French art critic Louis Vauxcelles
who first called it "bizarre cubiques" or cubism, after
noting that Picasso and Braque's paintings are "full of little cubes."
9. Picasso was a Playboy
Being a famous artist certainly helped Picasso get the girl. Girls, in
fact - many, many girls. Here's a short list of known wives and lovers
of Picasso (Source;
Many photos here: Link)
- Fernande Olivier (Picasso's first love, she was 18?; he was 23)
- Marcelle Humbert AKA Eva Gouel (she was 27, Picasso was 31)
- Gaby Lespinasse (he was 34, I don't know how old Gaby was, but she
was young, that's for sure!)
- Olga Khokhlova (Picasso's first wife; she was 26 and he was 36 when
they met)
- Marie-Thérèse Walter (she was 17, he was 46)
- Dora Maar (she was 29, Picasso was 55)
- Françoise Gilot (she was 21 when she met Picasso, who was 61)
- Geneviève Laporte (one of Picasso's last lovers. She was in
her mid-twenties and a French model of Picasso, who was in his seventies
when the affair started)
- Jacqueline Roque (who became Picasso's second wife. She was 27 and
he was 79)
Le Rêve (The Dream) by Pablo Picasso (1932)
Marie-Thérèse Walter was Picasso's model for Le Rêve.
In 2006, casino magnate Steve Wynn agreed to sell the painting for $139
million, but accidentally put his elbow through the canvas the day before
the sale was to be completed!
10. Picasso's Car
Okay, it's not exactly his car, but I couldn't resist. Last year, 44-year-old
mechanic Andy Saunders of Dorset, England, spent six months converting
his old Citroen 2CV into a cubist work inspired by Pablo Picasso!
Saunders named his car Picasso's Citroën, which is much better looking
than the ho-hum Citroën
Picasso: Link
Signing of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco on Jun 26, 1945
On October 24, 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence
when its Charter was ratified by the five permanent members of the Security
Council (France, Republic of China, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and United
States) and a majority of other 46 member countries.
To celebrate the UN's birthday (actually, celebrated as the "United
Nations Day" in many countries), here are a quick 10 fun facts about
it:
1. Failure of the League Of Nations
The
first world organization of countries was the League of Nations, founded
after the World War I (back then it was called the Great War or the War
to End All Wars - yes, ironic). The aim of the League of Nations was to
prevent the repeat of the war.
Benito Mussolini, the prime minister of Italy back then, famously said
"The League is very well when sparrows shout, but no good at all
when eagles fall out." And indeed, just three decades after the founding
of the League of Nations, the world plunged into another war, World War
II.
2. Churchill in a Bathtub: The Origin of the Name
The name "United Nations" was proposed by US President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt to Winston Churchill back in 1942. Churchill was in Washington,
D.C. then - in fact, he was sitting in a bathtub when FDR was wheeled
into the bathroom and proposed that the Allies
of World War II be called the United Nations. (Source)
FDR and Churchill thought that "United Nations" sounded better
than the "Alliance," a name they were thinking of first. Churchill
noted that the poet Lord Byron had used the name to describe the Allies
at the Battle of Waterloo in his book Childe Harold's Pilgrimage:
Here, where the sword United Nations drew,
Our countrymen were warring on that day!
And this much—and all—which will not pass away.
Ironically, the Allies of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, which included
the Prussian Army (which later became part of Germany in 1919), fought
the French Empire. France, of course, was later part of the Allies of
World War II, who fought Nazi Germany.
3. Rockefeller's Gift: Land for the UN Headquarters
The land of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City was purchased
from real estate mogul William Zeckendorf with money donated by John D.
Rockefeller, Jr. Zeckendorf was going to use it to build X City, a futuristic
real estate development that failed to get off the ground (Source).
The UN Headquarters building was designed by Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer,
and built with an interest-free loan from the United States.
The land and the building of the United Nations Headquarter are considered
international territory. It doesn't even meet all of New York City's fire
safety and building codes.
4. United Nations Stamp
The United Nations has its own
post office and its own postage stamp! Though mostly collectibles,
you can actually mail stuff using the UN stamps from UN premises in New
York, Geneva, and Vienna.
5. The UN Logo Was First Designed for a Lapel Pin
The
logo of the United Nations was designed by Donal McLaughlin, who worked
for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor of the CIA.
Donal described the UN logo as an "azimuthally equidistant projection
showing all the countries in one circle, flanked by crossed olive branches."
The logo was first designed as a lapel pin. (Source)
6. UN Flags and One That Just Gotta Be Different
Agencies and organizations of the United Nations all have their own flags:
The UN official colors are light blue and white. For some reason, World
Food Programme just has to be different: its flag colors are reversed!
7. UN Secretary-General Fun Facts
The head of the United Nations is the Secretary-General. They are appointed
based on geographical rotation, but never from the five permanent Security
Council member states.
The current Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon from South Korea. He has
been described by many as "bland" (indeed, his nickname is Ban-chusa,
or "the bureaucrat" in Korean). When he was elected Secretary-General,
however, Ban surprised everyone by singing a version of "Santa Claus
is Coming to Town" with the lyrics "Ban Ki-moon is coming
to town" instead).
Another interesting facts about past UN Secretary-Generals:
- Kofi Annan is a twin, a particularly respected thing in Ghanaian culture.
The Akan people of Ghana often name their children after the day of the
week they were born. His name, Kofi, is given to boys born on a Friday.
- Let's face it: Boutros Boutros-Ghali has a funny name. Indeed, an Icelandic
soccer team has been named after him! "Boutros Boutros"
once said "The best way to deal with bureaucrats is with stealth
and sudden violence." We can't agree more!
- Kurt Waldheim got embroiled in the "Waldheim Affair" when
it was discovered that he was an intelligence officer for Nazi Germany
during World War II.
- Forget "Boutros Boutros," the UN Secretary with the best
name has got to be U Thant. Actually "U" is an honorific in
Burmese, roughly meaning "mister" - his actually name is only
"Thant."
- Dag Hammarskjöld was killed in a mysterious plane crash (it was
rumored that the British MI5, the CIA, and the South African intelligence
services were responsible). He is the only UN Secretary-General to die
in office and the only person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
posthumously.
8. Does it Pay to be an Employee of the UN?
The UN Secretariat employed some 15,000 people worldwide (in comparison,
the Pentagon employed 23,000 people in Washington D.C. alone!). Salaries
for professional staff of the United Nations are determined by the "Noblemarie
Principle," named after the chairman of a committee of the League
of Nations who first formulated it in 1920.
The Noblemarie Principle holds that the UN must pay its staff equally
for work of equal value, despite differences in levels of pay in various
countries from where they are drawn. This translates to a base salary
of $113,000 for the Under Secretary-General, to the bottom salary of $32,000
(Source)
Being a diplomat to the United Nations, on the other hand, has its benefits:
because of their diplomatic immunity, many of them refuse to pay parking
tickets. Indeed, 6 countries have an average of over 100 parking tickets
per diplomat! (Source)
9. Newest Member: Welcome Montenegro!
The newest member of the United Nations is Montenegro, who became the
192nd member in 2006. Besides member states, there is one non-member observer
state, the Holy See in Vatican City.
10. Who Pays for the United Nations?
The
UN budget comes from the member states, determined by their ability to
pay (for example, France and the UK were assessed 6% of the budget, whereas
Liberia was assessed 0.001%, the minimum rate). The United States shoulder
the lion's share: it pays 22% (and 27% of the peacekeeping budget, which
is assessed separately). In 2006, this turns out to be $423 million or
$1.42 per American citizen.
Despite being assessed the most, the United States is constantly late
in payment. By 2005, the US owed more than $960 million in arrears. Thankfully,
it's not alone: only 40 out the 192 members paid on time - in fact, late
payment is considered standard practice by many nations! (Source)
National anthems: we've all sung them in school or at sporting events
... but what do you really know about them? Did you know that The Star-Spangled
Banner got its tune from a drinking song? Or that the Dutch national anthem,
"Het Wilhelmus" was once co-opted by the Nazi? Read on:
Great Britain: This One's for Hymn!
In
most languages other than English, the word for what we call a "national
anthem" translates roughly to "national hymn." And, to
be fair, that's probably an accurate portrayal of these songs, which pay
solemn homage to one's country and leaders in a style that isn't too far
removed from religious praise. Unlike the content of your local hymnal,
however, most national anthems weren't intentionally written for the role
they now fill. Rather than poet laureates, their authors tend to be random
patriots and they usually earn their vaunted place in society not by decree,
but by popular acceptance. By the time politicians get around to legally
making the anthem national it's already been loved by the public for decades
... if not longer.
Prime example: "God Save the King," the national anthem of
choice for the people of Great Britain. Nobody has any idea who wrote
this puppy, but it must have been composed at some point prior to the
16th century when the words - in Latin - first appear in print. But, while
the general theme ("Hey we sure do like the king and we hope that
things go well for him") has remained intact, the specific lyrics
have fluctuated considerably over the years and no official version has
ever been canonized.
The lyrics appear to have been compiled from a number of different sources,
including the Bible, where the quote "God save the King" appears
no fewer than three times. The entire second verse, meanwhile, was probably
cribbed from a Church of England prayer associated with the commemoration
of the foiled 1605 Gunpowder Plot to kill the King and members of Parliament.
(And, speaking of plagiarism, it's worth noting that Norway's national
anthem is, essentially, "God Save the King" translated into
Norwegian.)
By the late 1500s, the song had become so popular that its key lyrics
were incorporated into a series of passwords for the British Navy. To
identify fellow navy men you hadn't previously met all you needed to do
was walk up and say, "God save the King." If that peculiar fellow
also had his sea legs, he'd reply, "Long to reign over us."
The Netherlands: It Could be Verse
Another
common feature of national anthems: they usually have far more verses
than you're used to singing. Take the Netherlands' anthem, "Het Wilhelmus."
When attending to matters of state (and sporting events) the Dutch commonly
sing this as a two-verse medley. However, what they're actually belting
out are the first and sixth verses of a 15-verse extravaganza written
in honor of the Dutch Prince William of Orange in 1568.
Oh,
and did we mention that it's all written in first-person? To sing the
song, Dutch people everywhere must briefly adopt the persona of William
of Orange, as he vows to remain true to his country, to God, and to the
fight against tyranny, and (oddly for a Dutch national anthem) to the
King of Spain.
Weirder still, it turns out that the tune of "Het Wilhelmus"
has led a seedy life. During the 1930s and '40s, the music (set to vastly
different lyrics) was co-opted as the "Treuelied," the Nazi
SS song of loyalty.
The United States: Dive Bars and Stripes Forever
On
the night of September 13, 1814, at the height of the War of 1812, lawyer
(and sometime poet) Francis Scott Key was sent by the U.S. government
as an emissary to pick up a minor POW named Dr. William Beanes from where
he was being held on a British military ship near Baltimore. Beanes had
been arrested for "harassing British soldiers" after they'd
conquered Washington, D.C., a few weeks previously. (We like to imagine
this involved a lot of rude gestures and early attempts at "ye mother"
jokes.)
At any rate, the British agreed to release Beanes, but told Key that
he and the doctor would have to wait until the morning to leave. As it
turned out, Key had shown up right as the British were preparing to attack
Baltimore and its Fort McHenry.
Bombardment of Fort McHenry
Key ended up with a prime view of the ensuing firefight, watching it
from the deck of one of the ships doing the attacking. When, at dawn,
he saw the American flag still flying over the Fort, Key was so relieved
that he immediately scribbled down the first couple verses on an envelope.
But don't blame him if you can't hit the high notes. Key had nothing to
do with the tune. At some point after his poem was published, some unknown
person attached it to the music of an older song: The theme of the Anacreontic
Society.
Thanks to YouTube, here's the Anacreontic Society's song: Link
[YouTube]
So, what was the Anacreontic Society? Believe it or not, it was a gentleman's
club (read: excuse for rich guys to get together and drink) that was popular
in England during the 18th century. Dedicated to the booze and babes-filled
poetry of the Greek writer Anacreon, they composed a stirring, epic, and
perhaps intentionally difficult-to-sing anthem for him in 1870. Not surprisingly,
the song was written to be sung at "meetings" with each verse
ending with the lyrics, "and besides I'll instruct you like me,
to intwine/ The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus' Vine."
Japan: Serious Mourning Glory
One
of the oldest national anthems in the world, the "Kimigayo"
was officially canonized back in 1888 (in contrast, "The Star Spangled
Banner" didn't become our anthem until the 1930s). However, the components
of the song are even older still.
An imperial court musician put together the tune in 1880, opting for
a mournful, dirge-like melody that set the "Kimigayo" apart
from its march, waltz, and drinking-song-influenced counterparts.
A Sazare-ishi, a kind of boulder grown from pebbles, on the grounds of
the Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto. Photo credit: Wikipedia
The lyrics, meanwhile, are several hundred years old, dating to the 10th
century when they were first written down in a poetry anthology. They're
written as a "tanka," a stylized haiku-like poem composed of
five lines and 31 syllables. As such, they're also extremely beautiful.
To wit: "May the reign of the Emperor continue for a thousand,
nay, eight thousand generations and for the eternity that it takes for
small pebbles to grow into a great rock and become covered with moss."
Wow. Now that's what we call lyricism!
As more and more people live without children in Japan (the country has an alarmingly low birth rate), home builders have to adjust. So they're now coming up with houses optimized for ... pets!
Home builder Asahi Kasei has houses optimized for cats:
Two Fire Trucks Collide at Intersection
I've always wondered what would happen if - in their hurry to get
to the scene of the fire - two fire trucks got to the same spot
and no one yielded ...
Could You Forget Someone You Just Talked To 5 Seconds
Ago?
These ordinary people did! The last bit is the best - so make sure
you watch the entire thing!
Referee Football Tackle
When you play football, you expect a little rough and tumble. But
this is a little odd: Here's South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia tackled
by ... the ref!
