When Jerry and Darla Merrow's boat washed up on the remote Fanning Island - after spending 95 days drifting across the Pacific - the couple managed to hitch a ride on a cargo ship back to California.

Unfortunately, the cargo ship refused to let them take their pets on board, so they had to leave Gulliver the parrot and Snickers the dog behind. Because of regulations on the island that forbid importation of animals, the pets were going to be destroyed.

Now, thanks to the Internet, the story of Snickers and Gulliver reached Norwegian Cruise Line, who sent a ship to transport the dog back to California:

"It's an amazing story of a lot of people working together to save this puppy," said Evans Hoyt, captain of Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of Aloha. "He's a very, very lucky dog."

His original owners had to abandon Snickers and their macaw, Gulliver, on Fanning Island, a populated atoll about 1,000 miles south of Hawaii, after drifting at sea on their boat for three months.

"They were able to catch a supply ship and make their way back home to California, but the ship wouldn't allow Snickers to join them," said Gina Baurile, from the Hawaiian Humane Society.

Las Vegas pet lover Jack Joslin read about Snickers' saga in a boating journal and called the Hawaiian Humane Society to find out how he could rescue the pets. Honolulu TV and print media also have picked up the story in recent days.

Here's the story in the Los Angeles Times | KBCI CBS2 - via Cruise Log

(Getting the macaw back has proved to be more problematic: US has strict laws on the importation of exotic birds)

I was skeptical when I saw Cover Browser's game - where you drag pieces of an image to reveal the full cover of a comic book - but it's actually kind of fun! (It really should have a little timer to see how fast you can do 'em)

Link - Thanks Philipp Lenssen!

We've covered Pixeloo's "untoon"-ing of cartoon characters before (basically turning cartoons into "real" people), but his latest creation is unreal. Here's Jessica Rabbit "untooned": Link - Thanks Haendel Dantas!

Dairy farmer Rob Taverner believes that a happy cow is a productive cow, so every morning he performs tai chi in front of his herd to get them "in the right moo-d to produce lots of milk":

The 44-year-old organic farmer visits the animals at 9am each day to run through his ten-minute routine of slow movements and breathing techniques – dressed in his distinctive overalls and wellies.

He said: 'Tai chi is all about leaving your problems behind and getting into a better zone and my mood definitely transfers to the cows.

Like all animals, they are very receptive to human emotions and can sense feelings such as relaxation, calmness and happiness.

'Some people think what I do is ridiculous but I have some very content cows and I would do anything to keep them that way. As any good dairy farmer will tell you, a happy cow is a productive cow.'

Link - Thanks Jee!

(YouTube link)

Now this is what a work safety video should be like! Here's a German training video for forklift operators, called "Forklift Driver Klaus"

 [in German with English subtitles] - Thanks Badjuk!

What happened when an F-111 fighter jet collided with a large pelican? It's amazing that the pilot recovered the plane and landed safely:

AN F-111 was left "shredded" and incapacitated and was forced to make a spectacular emergency landing after hitting a pelican.

The jet was flying at 900m on a test bombing raid at Evans Head, northern NSW, when a pelican struck the fibreglass nose and was sucked into an engine.

The two RAAF crew are being hailed as heroes by their colleagues for their skilful recovery and landing on April 11. The damage, included a hole in one wing. Aviation experts said flying the plane would have been extremely difficult because the aircraft would have been unstable.

Story by James O'Loan and Alex Dickinson: Article | Gallery - via OhGizmo!

Marlboro was originally branded as a woman's cigarette.

Filtered cigarettes were considered feminine as reflected by Marlboro's original slogan "Mild as May." In the 1930s, Marlboro even changed the cigarette tips from ivory to red so they wouldn't smear ladies' lipstick.

In 1955 Philip Morris & Co. tried to change Marlboro's feminine image with the "Tattooed Man" campaign, where a rugged cattle rancher, a Navy officer, and a flyer (all with muscular, tattooed hands) were shown holding a cigarette. Supposedly the tattoo was suggestive of "romantic past." Later, ad genius Leo Burnett used the image of a cowboy to prove that the cigarettes weren't for sissies, and thus "The Marlboro Man" was born. (Source)

There were many Marlboro Men, but two of them - Wayne McLaren and David McLean - died of lung cancers. The original Marlboro Man, David Millar, Jr., died of emphysema. McLaren became an anti-smoking activist before he died, and Philip Morris denied that he ever appeared in a Marlboro ad. Later, the company admitted that he indeed appeared, but not as a Marlboro Man.

Some things in life are so ridiculous yet so awesome that they leave us breathless. This may just be one of those things: behold, the Inflatable Toast Mattress!

Breakfast in bed? No, breakfast is bed! Link - via Fabulist

(Yes, yes, it's late for an April Fool's joke post but come on, it was funny. And someone should really make it.)

Waitaminute - something ain't right here! Actually, that's the Covini C6W, a six-wheeled sportscar that supposedly have more traction for cornering and braking.

You can see more at Dark Roasted Blend's World's Strangest Vehicles.

Found at Joey deVilla's The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century, photo by Miss Fipi Lele.

Would someone tell me the background story of this rocketastic motorcycle mod, pretty please?

"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."

- Isaac Asimov, author

Cineleet has a neat post about a few movies that have the basic tenet of a Western film (morality tales featuring an antihero, code of honor and ruthless villains) for guys who don't like Westerns.

Take this Japanese samurai flick, for instance:

Yojimbo (1961)
This film, along with Seven Samurai, is the prototype for what would be known as the Spaghetti Western. Both are directed by Akira Kurosawa, a master at his craft. Kurosawa himself was inspired by the classic westerns of John Ford, (and also in part by film noir and Dashiell Hammett novels) so in a way this could be considered an “Eastern”. The hero is a nameless wandering swordsman (Toshiro Mifune) who happens to wander into a village where two rival gangs are feuding over who gets to subjugate the local villagers, and take their resources. Perhaps acting out of a sense of justice (though he would never admit it) this bodyguard, or yojimbo, decides to pit the two gangs against each other, to the benefit of the villagers. The two gangs inevitably destroy each other, the villagers are saved, and Mifune’s nameless swordsman wanders off into the sunset.

Link - Thanks David!

Neatorama reader Melia Gleason wrote to us about Scenes from the Morgue blog by Chad Plambeck, a blog dedicated to retro-pulp movie ads that appeared in the The Grand Island Independent newspaper published by the company she works for.

The term "morgue," Melie explains, is the archive department. It's where a copy of every issue of the newspaper is kept. Usually, this is located in the basement.

Link (don't miss the "Yuk" Buffet one) - Thanks Melia!

ZOMG! This is the funnest Flash game evar: Doeo is a simple yet maddeningly addictive game from Marcus Richert (aka Raitendo).

The game play is simple: collect the Doeos as they pop up - sometimes in unexpected places - to get onto the next stage.

Link - Thanks Nick Graham!

In the 1940s, film giant 20th Century Fox lent several hand-bound books to the University of Southern California library. These books contained examples of various documents and forms used during filmmaking and studio operations (probably lent to the library for educational reasons).

Fast forward to 2005: Somehow the book made its way to an antique store, where it was bought by Derek D. and his wife. The couple then listed it on their online store. Here's where it got interesting: a lawyer from the 20th Century Fox Film Studio found it, told them that it was stolen property and asked for it back.

Here's the story of the journey of one (presumed stolen) book, which brings an interesting question of what happen when a collector unknowingly obtained a stolen object:

This point here is the tipping point whenever it is found that a collector has illegal property in their possession. Even if a court motion is the first knowledge of the disputed ownership, working out a deal with the rightful owner is the first step. Unless a collector knows indisputably that the other party has no rightful claim, a reasonable agreement should be met in the middle. In nearly every case listed in my previous article, the current owner attempted, or was in the process of, working with either law enforcement or the party claiming ownership. Stephen Spielberg has discovered a stolen painting in his collection, and he went to the FBI for help in working out ownership; I highly doubt legal action will be taken against Spielberg, but he is definitely at risk of losing the painting…but not all stolen items end up returned to the original owner. Acting in good faith is likely to encourage a amicable resolution, and if the problem has no other recourse but to go to court, the judge may view the attempts to resolve the situation in a positive light.

http://www.collectorsquest.com/blog/2008/03/17/collecting-what-you-aren%e2%80%99t-supposed-to-have-redux/ - Thanks Derek D.!

By the way, Infomercantile has a detailed chart outlining the organizational structure of the film studio in the 1940s, listing everyone from the chairman to studio security: Link