John Farrier's Blog Posts

The Vulgar Chef Cooks with Candy Corn

Kyle Marcoux is the world's greatest chef. He thinks of new food products that are not simply innovative, but revolutionary. I mean, who would ever have thought that Pepto-Bismol could be consumed in slices?

This Halloween, you're probably going to recieve a lot of candy corn. It's the most popular of all Halloween candies. You--or at least Marcoux--can accomplish much with it, such as this candy corn grilled cheese sandwich.

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Playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on Rubber Chickens

Fabrício André Bernard Di Paolo, who goes by the name Lord Vinheteiro, is a Brazilian musician who is a classically trained pianist. It's worth noting that he is not actually a member of the nobility of the defunct Empire of Brazil. He is, though, a princely master of many musical instruments, including the rubber chicken.

In the past, we've seen Lord Vinheteiro play "Total Eclipse of the Heart" on a single rubber chicken. Now he plays the most famous work by Nirvana on an array of 14 rubber chickens.

Question: what kind of instrument is a rubber chicken? Some people on the web says that it's a percussion instrument, but I think that the sound comes from the movement of air inside, not the striking of the rubber itself.


Isopod Leather Purse

Redditor /u/amp123 made this beautiful handbag that's shaped like an isopod. Given its size, it closely resembles the giant marine isopods that are so popular in Taiwanese cuisine.

She comments that it's functional as a small purse, but will not take large items. She also suspects that it will be an effective deterrent against pickpockets.


123 Instruments in 123 Seconds

Luke Pickman is a composer and multi-instrument musician. And by multi-instrument, let's emphasize the modifier multi. He's an avid collector of instruments from around the world. As his collection grows, he adds their use to his repertoire.

In the past, we've seen him perform the 7-note piece known as "The Lick" on 92 instruments (including mayonnaise) and a longer original piece on 111 instruments. For this video, Pickman performed the C major scale on his expanded collection. The instruments now include a double ocarina, a toy piano, a double bawu, a piccolo trombone (which apparently exists), and an Aztec death whistle.

-via Born in Space


There's a Parallel Parking Championship

Christi VanSyckle of Car & Driver magazine learned about and then entered the Pittsburgh Parallel Parking Championship. Dan Leber founded this annual contest in recollection of watching his mother expertly slip the family car into parallel parking spots.

The contest rules are precisely calibrated to handicap cars by length, although all must slide into a standard 20-foot long space bounded by two of Leber's own cars. Scores are a combination of speed and precision. Each contestant maneuvers until shouting "Done!" to mark completion.

The winner this year was Ephorm, who is pictured above. VanSyckle placed 25th among 183 contestants, which isn't bad for a first timer.

-via Instapundit | Photo: Pittsburgh Parallel Parking Championship


Swiss Army Knife Crossbow

Fit to Survive is a YouTuber and maker of custom survival gear for everyday carry. Years ago, he restored a few Swiss Army knives and realized that he could improve upon their designs. He modified them in practical and sometimes fanciful ways.

I'm not sure which category this particular knife fits. A crossbow is not a standard tool that folds out of a knife case. But this tool is so precisely engineered and machined that it's functional as a weapon under unusual circumstances. With a carbon fiber bolt, it's able to puncture a soda can.

I wonder if it would be possible to add a ghost ring sight to improve accuracy of fire.

-via The Awesomer


Ladder Manufacturer Now Advertising Use of Its Product in the Louvre Heist

Over a week ago, an impressive team of thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris and stole approximately $100 million worth of jewelry belonging to either the House of Bourbon or the House of Napoleon depending upon your preferred candidate for the French throne. Two of the alleged thieves have been captured.

Despite this outcome, it was an impressive caper. The team used a German-built Böcker Agilo ladder truck. Böcker is making good use of this free publicity to advertise its now most famous product. The company now shares ads in English and German promoting the truck's speed and the low volume of its motor.

As the 292nd Rule of Acquisition says, "Only a fool passes up a business opportunity."

-via Super Punch


Is This Woman Cosplaying as a Traffic Cone or the VLC Media Player?

X user G. Gordon Lady shared this photo of a woman in costume for Halloween. She thinks that the woman is dressed as a traffic cone. But other denizens of X think that it's actually the logo for the VLC media player:

I think that this second interpretation is probably correct, especially given that the woman uses black sleeves to mimic the background of the app.


Literal Deviled Eggs

Redditor /u/joross31 is getting ready for Halloween. She's a master chef is ready to deliver visually stunning foods for her guests.

These yolks of these deviled eggs are shaped with a food mold and tinted red with gel coloring. The egg whites became egg blacks with charcoal onion ash mix. Joross31 then packed the assembled eggs around dry ice for the spooky visual effect you see here.


Making a Coffee Cup out of Coffee Grounds

YouTuber Luís César N. Giestas, a product designer and teacher in Lisbon, experimented with making coffee accessories with coffee grounds.

He began by gathering coffee grounds from eighteen nations that produce them. These 15 pounds of coffee grounds he curiously identified as a year's supply. As a binding agent, he composed a mixture of water, honey, and agar. This mixture and the coffee formed a soft mass which he pressed into molds for a cup and a saucer.

Giestas then dried his cup and saucer for a week until they became firm. He made pour-over coffee and served it in this literal cup of coffee.  The structure proved remarkably stable and survived boiling water.

At the conclusion of his experiment, Giestas broke up the coffee cup, melted it, and then used the mass to form a flower pot. What belongs in this flower pot? A coffee plant, of course!

-via David Thompson


The 2025 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

Wildlife photographer Paul Joynson-Hicks founded the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards in 2015. They've proven to be a huge hit and a favorite of Neatorama readers. They serve a good cause, too, as the annual project raises money for wildlife conservation efforts--fully 10% of the program's net revenue.

You can view a gallery of the finalists here. They include Allison Tuck's contribution titled "Now Which Direction Is My Nest?" I'd like to tell the bird that we're laughing with her, but not at her, but we know that wouldn't be true.

Browse the gallery for scenes of romance, play, and happy accidents.

-via Gizmodo


You Can Mail Coconuts without Additional Packaging

Visit the little US Post Office in the town of Hoolehua on the Hawaiian island of Molokai and you can mail an entire coconut as is. The US Postal Service informs us that the practice began in 1991 when the then-postmaster came up with the idea as a way to visitors and residents to share with friends around the world an unusual bit of Molokai culture.

The program is called Post-A-Nut. Every year, this post office sends out about 3,000 coconuts, including 700 to addresses outside of the United States. The post office provides the coconuts and decorating materials for free. The customers do have to pay for postage, though, which results in the coconuts becoming covered with stamps.

-via The Takeout


Cerveza Cristal Ads Stitched into Star Trek

In 2003, when Chilean television aired the original trilogy of Star Wars films, an inventive broadcast team digitally added commercials into the story so that characters appeared to reach for iced bottles of Cerveza Cristal brand beer at appropriate moments. A collection of these commercials went viral about a year and a half ago.

They inspired imitators within the Trekkie community, notably YouTuber VitaZed. You can find all five of them on his channel. My favorite is a pivotal scene above from Star Trek: First Contact in which Zefram Cochran hesitates during the launch of humanity's first warp-capable vessel.

-via Holodeck Four


Flaming Hot Cheetos Marshmallow Treats

It stands to reason that, if humanity should advance, it should grasp at every possible opportunity to gain knowledge and power. It is only by ambition that humanity can rise above fleshly constraints. This is the lesson of Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus:

A sound magician is a mighty god:

Here, Faustus, tire thy brains to gain a deity.

The food blogger Seeded at the Table understands, hence the need to create marshmallow treats, but without the traditional puffed rice cereal. Nay, such glutinous confections must be structured around Flaming Hot Cheetos to blend the tart powdered cheese flavor with the sweetness of marshmallow.

-via @369sosa, who warns, "God will deal with you."


King Harold Godwinson, May He Rest in Peace

Yesterday marked the 959th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, which was the decisive battle of the Norman invasion of England. William the Bastard earned the sobriquet William the Conqueror when he defeated and killed King Harold Godwinson at Hastings.

The Norman yoke then fell upon the people of England. From a certain point of view, Harold Godwinson was the last legitimate King of England.

Internet rumor tells us that, every year, on the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, the Hastings Observer prints a notice of memorial to him.

-via the patriotic Frenchman Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry:


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Profile for John Farrier

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