John Farrier's Blog Posts

Clever Monkey Learns How to Use Tools . . . To Pick Her Nose

The task is not an easy one: the monkey must deliver the contents of her nose into her mouth for consumption. You might use your finger for that task. But the capuchin monkey is more clever than you. She uses a stick.

This is an adult female bearded capuchin monkey (Sapajus libidinosus)--an animal clearly ready to challenge humanity for dominance. With their advanced nose picking technology, the capuchins are already the equal of humans, if not our superiors. Science News reports on this startling finding from Brazil:

For about five minutes, an adult female bearded capuchin (Sapajus libidinosus) in northeastern Brazil repeatedly inserted a twig or stem into its nostril, usually inducing a sneeze. The monkey also rubbed sticks back and forth against the base of its teeth, probably to dislodge debris, Haslam and Oxford colleague Tiago Falótico report in the July Primates. After picking its nose or teeth, the monkey often licked the tool tip, perhaps to wipe the stick clean.


(Video Link)

-via Dave Barry


Funny, In-Store Reviews at an IKEA

Prankster Obvious Plant likes to visit stores and add unauthorized signs to amuse himself and other shoppers. We've covered his pranks extensively, including his reviews added to an appliance store. He's back with more helpful feedback at an IKEA. There are many satisfied customers at this IKEA, including one primarily concerned with efficient snake storage.


Two 5-Year Old Boys Tunnel out of Kindergarten to Buy a Sports Car

In a recreation of The Great Escape, two kindergarteners in Magnitogorsk, Russia, secretly used spades for several days to dig out of their school. After breaking out, they walked for 2 kilometers to a Jaguar car dealership. Their intention was certainly understandable: they wanted to buy a sports car. ABC News reports:

A female driver noticed the unaccompanied children and asked them what they were doing. They told her they had come from their kindergarten to buy a Jaguar but did not have any money.

She put them in her car and drove them to a police station.

The boys might have succeeded in their plot, if they had brought money and maintained a good cover story.

-via Dave Barry


PSA: Take a Stand Against Dad Jokes


(Video Link)

Every day, kids around the world are subjected to brutally lame, pun-based jokes made by their fathers. These are ordinary, innocent children--like mine, who have to face my awful jokes.

Some children are able to avoid much of the brunt of these pathetic attempts at humor. My eldest daughter, for example, no longer says to me, "Dad, I'm hungry." She'll say, "Dad, my name is Natasha and I'm hungry." This disarms that particular joke.

But there are more. Oh, so many more awful puns. This PSA by Nickelodeon Australia encourages reminds fathers to be careful because their jokes leave marks on the soul. Dad jokes are not a laughing matter.

-via Jeremy Barker


4-Year Old with One Arm Has Fantastic Golf Swing

Tommy Morrissey is only 4 years old, which alone would make him an impressive golf prodigy. What's only more amazing is that he's attained such a high level at the sport even though he was born without a right arm. Metro reports:

If a four-year-old capable of hitting the ball over 100 yards wasn’t already astonishing enough, it’s worth mentioning that Tommy manages to drive fairways, avoid bunkers, chip greens and sink putts using just one arm.

The young boy from Florida was born missing most of his right arm, but hasn’t let that stop him from inspiring millions with his wonderful spirit and incredible skill.

That's because, as Fox Sports puts it, Tommy doesn't see himself as a disabled child. The absence of an arm doesn't hold him back--a message that he shares with kids and adults.

-via Adam Baldwin


Game of Thrones Gets Its Own Pinball Machine

It costs 2 quarters--unless you can pay the iron price. Stern Pinball, a maker of high-end pinball machines, offers this machine decorated with Game of Thrones images and sculptures.

Continue reading

Baby Born at Legoland Gets Lifetime Pass

(Photo: Atkinson Family)

As Carolyn Cox of The Mary Sue puts it, "he was born with a silver brick in his mouth." The Legoland park and resort in Windsor, UK recently got a unique minifig. Lucas Atkinson was born there last August when his mother went into labor in the parking lot of the theme park. That wasn't intentional. She was just making a detour on the way to the hospital. Little Lucas was ready to be born at that very moment.

Park officials have responded by giving the boy a lifetime pass. That's a whole lot of adventure and constructive play to pack in!


Engineering Student Gets Drunk, Designs Airplane, Doesn't Remember Doing It

(Photo: Keith Fraley)

Keith Fraley is a software engineering student at Michigan Tech University. His roommate, Mark, is a mechanical engineering student. One night, Mark got drunk--very drunk. While thoroughly sloshed, he designed an airplane in substantial technical detail, complete with mathematical calculations for the design. Fraley described the event to The Guardian:

My friend Cody and I both looked at Mark as he then began to spew information about his whiteboard designed craft and the calculations behind it. Cody and I were in tears from laughter because the aerospace mathematics he tried telling us about sounded like a slurred robot. I did no encouraging towards the creation of this, but I did encourage him to continue talking because it was hilarious.

The guys that Mark shared drinks with were with him for more of the night than I was. They explained to me that Mark began a tantrum and began creating his design. Alex, a friend of Mark’s, said that he began staring at the ground and said that he asked for pen and paper immediately. After he sketched some designs, he said that he needed to leave and grab his aerospace mathematics textbook and whiteboard.

According to his drinking buddies, he was drawing frantically explaining his thoughts out loud and at the time he was very intoxicated. He was passing out on his whiteboard from time to time as well.

Later, Mark sobered up. He had no memory of the event. But his roommate did and explained. Mark isn't certain that the plane will fly, but he plans to build an RC model to find out.

I'm a librarian. If I got completely drunk, then creative at work, what might be the result?

-via Gawker


Is This 8-Year Old's Newspaper Better Than Yours?


(Photo: Columbia Journalism Review/Joe Pompeo)

This is Hilde Lysiak, 8, the founder and chief reporter of The Orange Street News. It's a monthly newspaper and, in fact, the only newspaper for Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, a town of about 5,000 people. Hilde is and old-fashioned, gumshoe journalist who focuses on hard news. The Columbia Journalism Review followed her on the job as she investigated the effects of a local tornado strike:

An older man with an ample potbelly answered, and apologized for being shirtless. With a mix of affability and confusion, he looked down at the freckly blonde 8-year-old standing before him. She had her pen and pad in hand. Homemade press credentials dangled from her neck. “Hi. I’m Hilde from The Orange Street News, and I was wondering if you could tell me what happened a couple nights ago.”

He gestured to his neighbor’s property. “This gentleman over here got the worst of it,” he said. “It went through his house and then went out in the middle of the Susquehanna River and went to the south.” Hilde took notes. She asked the man for his name and spelled out the letters in her notebook: “B-O-B M-A-Y-H-E-W.” 

Continue reading

The Visual Poetry of Star Wars


(Video Link)

George Lucas intended for his films to, in a way, rhyme. This inspired Pablo Fernández Eyre to find the similarities in visual narrative between the original trilogy and the new trilogy. Lucas intended to tell a very old story--not simply one that set long ago--but one intimately familiar to people. Star Wars resonates with people for that reason. In this video, Eyre shows Lucas did that in often small ways.

-via Nerd Approved


Scientists: Your Cat Doesn't Love You


(Photo: Andesine)

Cats are enormously popular as pets. In Europe, they recently overtook dogs as the most popular companion animal. You love your cat. But, animal behaviorists tell us, your cat doesn't actually love you.

Researchers at the University of Lincoln (UK) found that although dogs experience separation anxiety when their humans are absent, cats don't really care. As long as their physical needs are addressed, the absence of their humans is unconcerning. Sarah Knapton writes for the National Post:

“Previous research has suggested that some cats show signs of separation anxiety when left alone by their owners, in the same way that dogs do, but the results of our study show that they are, in fact, much more independent than canine companions.

“It seems that what we interpret as separation anxiety might actually be signs of frustration.” To find out if cats needed their owner to feel secure, the researchers observed how 20 cats reacted when they were placed in an unfamiliar environment together with their owner, with a stranger or on their own.

The study monitored the amount of contact sought by the cat, the level of passive behaviour, and signs of distress caused by the absence of the owner.

“Although our cats were more vocal when the owner rather than the stranger left them with the other individual, we didn’t see any additional evidence to suggest that the bond between a cat and its owner is one of secure attachment,” Prof Mills said.

The researchers insist that cat owners should take their findings as a compliment. A cat doesn't stay with you because it emotionally has to, but because it wants to. The National Post quotes cat expert Celia Haddon:

This study shows cats do not need their humans to feel safe, they look after themselves. But in a way that’s a real compliment. Cats won’t live in an unhappy home, they’ll just walk out.

-via Dave Barry


7 More Things You Didn't Know about Fight Club


(Video Link)

In the seminal film Fight Club, Tyler Durden lives in a decrepit, crumbling hovel that leaks during the nearly constant rain. The directors designed it this way as an homage to Blade Runner. Durden's home is dark, wet, and dreary, just like J.F. Sebastian's home. That's 1 of 7 neat facts that CineFix tells us about Fight Club. This is a sequel to a previous list behind-the-scenes secrets of Fight Club.

-via Blame It on the Voices


Canine Property Law

(They Can Talk/Jimmy Craig)

Jimmy Craig, who plays the cat in this funny sketch video, explains how property transactions occur in the dog world. Of course, the dog with a higher and stronger stream has a somewhat more enforceable claim in court. Mark your territory accordingly, both at home and the workplace.

-via Tastefully Offensive


The 5 Most Ridiculous Live-Action Saturday Morning Shows of the 70s


(Video Link)

A highly trained German Shepherd of the US Army is falsely accused of biting his handler. He's on the run with a $200 bounty on his head. Now Joe wanders across America, helping people he meets while seeking the dog who committed the crime.

This is Run, Joe, Run--a real television show that actually aired in 1974. It's a retelling of The Fugitive, but with a dog. It's 1 of 5 preposterous Saturday morning live action TV programs that aired on American television during the 1970s. They include a high school teacher who turns into a 12-year old boy and, of course, a contribution by Sid and Marty Kroff about Bigfoot.


The Little Free TARDIS Library

(Photo: Little Free Library, UK)

The Little Free Library is a public service concept that began in Wisconsin and has swept across the world. People are building birdhouse-sized libraries, filling them with books, and leaving them in public places. Take a book, read it, and leave a book.

The UK's Little Free Library Project grew (you don't build a TARDIS, but grow one) this suprisingly roomy library. Despite its Gallifreyan orgin, most books inside are in English. It will tour Britain, bringing reading experiences across the country. Just listen for the signature womping sound of it materializing near you.

-via Bookshelf


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Profile for John Farrier

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