Yay! It's time for our collaboration with What is it? blog: can you guess what this strange hammer is for?

Place your guess in the comment section. One guess per comment, but you can enter as many times as you'd like. Please post no URL, so others can play, too. You're playing for a Free Neatorama T-Shirt. More clues at What is it? blog.

Good luck!

A banker's check canceling hammer, used to mark checks after they've been cashed.

Nope, that's not a guy peeing on a tree. It's a cardboard ad to show the lack of public restrooms in New York City.

Part of a neat compilation of "Ads using Trees" over at CrookedBrains: Link

Photo: marcn [Flickr]

Prisoners in the New Hampshire state prison in Concord, New Hampshire, stamp license plates with the state's motto: "Live Free or Die."

Acanthusleaf Design Studio created this ring based on a Diana Scarisbrick's book Historic Rings. In a closed position, it looks just like any other ring, but then you can "open" it up to look like a celestial globe:

This should probably be described as clockpunk because the original is early 17thC, but it has that totally industrial 19thC look, especially when closed. The original was gold, of course, but I've made this prototype in brass, riveted with silver, because that's what I had in convenient sizes of sheet and wire. We cannot wait around for sheet metal when obsessed, now can we?

Link - via Brass Goggles

Photo: 1-800-AIREELZ.COM

Artist Melanie Coles (and friends) created a giant 54-foot tall Waldo on a rooftop somewhere in Vancouver, Canada. The idea is to wait till a Google fly-by, so we can all then play Where (on Earth) is Waldo on Google Maps!

Link - via Beyond Robson, thanks Duran Cheung!

This Flash game is more fun than it should: the goal is simple - all you need to do is use your magic pen and draw circles, rectangles and other shapes to push the red circle toward the flag.

But the principles of physics, darn them, are always trying to thwart what you're doing: Link [Flash game] - Thanks CheeseDuck!

Here's a truly memorable wedding night - actually, it was down right electric! Here's what happened:

Police say a bride and groom spent their first night as a married couple in jail after their wedding party at a Vallejo home got out of hand.

When police had to return a second time to the home Saturday night, officers stunned both the groom and his cousin with a Taser when they both became aggressive towards the officers.

CBS13 has the news report: Link (with video) - Thanks Tiffany!

This one is a bit long, but really interesting. Cabinet of Wonders blog dug up an article by Danny Penman at the Daily Mail about hearing voices.

Now, normally, hearing voices is a sure symptom of mental illness (like schizophrenia) ... but is it always a bad thing? Here's a story recounted by consultant psychiatrist Dr. Ikechukwu Azuonye:

The story begins in 1984 when a married woman in her 40s was referred to him, apparently suffering from a psychiatric illness. Her ‘symptoms’ appeared when she was at home in London quietly reading a book, and a distinct voice appeared in her head.

‘Please don’t be afraid,’ the voice said in a firm but soothing tone. ‘I know it must be shocking for you to hear me speaking to you like this, but this is the easiest way I could think of. My friend and I used to work at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, and we would like to help you.’

She was understandably shocked and was initially determined to dismiss the voice as a bizarre daydream. But it refused to go away and claimed that she was physically ill and would soon need help. [...]

‘The voices told her to go in and ask to have a brain scan,’ says Dr Azuonye. ‘This was apparently for two reasons. She had a tumour in her brain and her brain stem was inflamed.

Because the voices had told her things in the past that had turned out to be true, she believed them when they said that she had a tumour. I requested a brain scan.’

It turned out the diagnosis made by the voices was correct. Interestingly, says Dr Azuonye, there were no clinical signs that would have alerted anyone — including the patient — to the tumour.

The surgeon suggested an immediate operation to remove the tumour, a decision the voices agreed with. ‘They said they would have preferred the operation to be done at the National Hospital, Queen Square, London, because they specialised in neurological diseases. But because she was already at the Royal Free Hospital, they told her to have the procedure done there because it was urgent,’ Dr Azuonye says.

After the operation, and when the woman had recovered consciousness, the voices returned one last time, to bid her farewell. ‘We are pleased to have helped you,’ they said, before bidding her goodbye. ‘It is a miracle,’ says Dr Azuonye. ‘The patient regards herself as being helped by a guardian angel.’

Was it miracle or madness? Link - More over at Cabinet of Wonders

What I like about Scribal Terror blog is how Gail Hapke throws in a neat vocab lesson every now and then. Take this post on "feague", which means:

“to put ginger up a horse’s fundament, or a live eel, to make him lively and carry his tail well; it is said, a forfeit is incurred by any horse-dealer’s servant, who shall shew a horse without first feaguing him. Feague is used, figuratively, for encouraging or spiriting one up”.

(What's a fundament? The Free Dictionary to the rescue)

Link

(Illustration: AWhitehorse, who obviouly doesn't approve of the whole ginger thingy)

eBayer pogo*the*clown made this steampunk-tastic Vintage Darth Vader mask that was bought at Disney World:

I modified the helmet by carving out detail to make it look like brass plate and adding several tacks to simulate rivets. This process was tedious and took forever. I finished it off with a WWI style helmet spike, which is actually a ceiling fan pull chain and an antique paint job. The chest plate was made from a shadow box frame (8 inches tall x 6 inches wide x 3 inches deep) and a bunch of cannibalized clock, and other device parts. I wired a green LED to a switch in the back that runs on two AA batteries. The steam tank was made from a piece of PVC pipe with a vintage pressure valve inserted into it.

Bidding has ended (drats!) but you can still gawk at the pics: Link [eBay] or at GeeksAlert

I betcha that - if they are what I think they are, then this is the grossest photo you'll see today. Heck, even if they're not what I think they are, it's still gross.

So gross that I'm not going to show it here on Neatorama, but you can click away to see it over at One Large Prawn: Link [SFW, maybe. You've been warned]

Super Punch blog has an excellent post running down the top 15 Weirdest Wedding Cake Toppers. I like this one, the steampunk Robot Bride and Groom Wedding Cake Topper, by Etsy seller buildersstudio.

Check out the entire list: Link

Previously on Neatorama: Bride of Chucky Wedding Cake Topper | Another funny one

It's been a while since we posted about the Wilhelm Scream, a neat bit of stock sound effect popularized by Star Wars series sound designer Ben Burtt, who used it it pretty much all of his films as an in-joke.

Say No to Crack has a YouTube clip of the famous scream in various movies. If you haven't heard of the Wilhelm Scream before, check it out: Link

Ooh, this is one movie I'm looking forward to watching (at least on DVD - It's impossible to go see a movie with a twenty-month-old and a three-month-old ...): Hellboy 2: The Golden Army as directed by Guillermo del Toro.

Here's the trailer: http://www.alwayswatching.org/news/hellboy-2-trailer-debuts-rocks-socks

Psst, guys! Forget eHarmony - Ian McKenzie of Ian's Messy Desk blog tells us 14 Old Testament Ways to Get a Wife. Here are the first five:

1. Find an attractive prisoner of war, bring her home, shave her head, trim her nails, and give her new clothes. Then she’s yours. - (Deuteronomy 21:11-13)
2. Find a prostitute and marry her. - (Hosea 1:1-3)
3. Find a man with seven daughters, and impress him by watering his flock.- Moses (Exodus 2:16-21)
4. Purchase a piece of property, and get a woman as part of the deal. - Boaz (Ruth 4:5-10)
5. Go to a party and hide. When the women come out to dance, grab one and carry her off to be your wife. - Benjaminites (Judges 21:19-25)

http://www.ismckenzie.com/03/28/14-old-testament-ways-to-get-a-wife/ - via Locust & Honey