John Farrier's Blog Posts
A man in Silver Spring, Maryland, is under arrest for multiple burglaries. Police caught him because he left his cell phone charging in one home as he robbed it:
Link via Geekologie | Photo (unrelated) by Flickr user Debs used under Creative Commons license
Police say that Wilkins's home lost power in the storm and that he needed a place - anyplace, it seems - to charge his phone. In his haste to flee, he left it charging.
Link via Geekologie | Photo (unrelated) by Flickr user Debs used under Creative Commons license
(Video Link)
Michael S. Deak, a movie makeup artist, has made several trailers for fake horror movies from the 1950s and 60s, such as Attack of the Brain Leeches. His YouTube channel is filled with similar works. Most noteworthy among them is a trailer for Gli Uccisori Del 'Idiota, a really well-made imitation of 60s-era Italian spy movies.
YouTube Channel via Boing Boing
Yong Hsueh, a Shaolin monk, appeared on the Chinese version of Britain's Got Talent to demonstrate his ability to get kicked in the crotch without suffering injury:
He told the audience: "Steel crotch Kongfu is an ancient art, with roots stretching back to ancient China.
"It's a practice to strengthen and protect the male genital organs so there is less chance they are injured or incapacitated in battle."
Cross legged male members of the audience watched in shock as various members of the panel were invited to boot the monk - who simply bowed and smiled after each blow - between the legs.
And how does one learn this skill?
The monk said the former could only be learned by a student that started in childhood - it involved pushing the testicles into the body where they could not be hurt.
Link via The Corner | Image: Orange News
(Video Link)
Corgis Martin and Aston love to be play tetherball. This is a regular activity for them, as you can see from the other videos at the video link.
via Super Punch
John Looser of Belgrave, Ontario, makes birdhouses with the upper-class bird in mind. Some have over a hundred rooms, swimming pools, and convenient fly-through tunnels. Each one takes between a week and a month to build and can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Link and Video via Born Rich | Photo: Extreme Birdhouse
The StreetFlyer vehicle, developed by Dr. Carsten Mehring, is supposed to represent a land version of hang gliding. The rider is suspended in a harness from the top. She steers with her hands and pedals the rear wheel. Mehring asserts that the StreetFlyer could serve physical rehabilitation purposes as it puts limited stress on the user's limbs.
Product Link via OhGizmo!
Cartoonist Caldwell Tanner thinks that the Girl Scouts really need to rethink their cookie designs. Here's one of several proposals that he's making: wrap the best cookies in the most unappetizing packaging possible.
http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1813128
Sure, you can cook a squirrel in a popcorn popper, but those really aren't that common since the advent of microwave popcorn. Max Eddy of Geekosystem has a more practical guide for you: how to cook food in a coffee pot. He has links to instructions and recipes including lemon pepper chicken, chicken pesto pasta, and fish steaks. Inspired by his post, right now I'm cooking eggs in my coffee pot. I'll let you know how they turn out.
What foods have you cooked in a coffee maker?
Link | Previously: How to Brew Beer in a Coffee Maker
What foods have you cooked in a coffee maker?
Link | Previously: How to Brew Beer in a Coffee Maker
Scientists in Britain -- wait, I mean the United Kingdom -- propose to breed sea cucumbers in large numbers. These animals will eat the waste off the ocean floor and can then be sold as a food product:
According to the one diner quoted in the article, sea cucumbers taste like phlegm. What's not to like?
Link via reddit | Photo: Independent
It breathes through its anus, can liquefy its body and acts as the waste collectors of the seabed. Scientists now believe that a species of sea cucumber living off the British coast could become a lucrative culinary export.
A project will begin this year to see whether it is possible to harvest commercial quantities of sea cucumbers – which are animals not plants – from beneath fish farms where the seabed is laden with the organic detritus.
Experts believe it may be possible to clean up the sea floor below the fish farms by cultivating vast "herds" of sea cucumbers while at the same time producing a valuable culinary delicacy that is highly prized in China and the Far East, where processed sea cucumbers can sell for extortionate prices.
According to the one diner quoted in the article, sea cucumbers taste like phlegm. What's not to like?
Link via reddit | Photo: Independent
(Video Link)
BUILD!, by LEGO animators David Pagano and Matt Witham, tells the tale of an ordinary Norse woodsmen. When his axe was struck by divine lightning, it began having a transformational effect on everything the wielder encountered. The animation is set to an awesome soundtrack by Jason Mass.
via Geek Dad | David Pagano's Website | Matt Witham's Website
Nothing hits the spot quite like a grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of tomato soup. But it's been hard to get sloshed on this combination...until now. Clive's, a bar in Victoria, British Columbia, offers a cocktail called a "Cold Night In" that blends these flavors with alcohol. Here's how bartender Shawn Sole makes one:
Link via Althouse | Photo: Shawn Soole
Soole starts with his own batch of “grilled cheese rum” — dark, viscous Mt. Gay “washed” overnight with a real-live grilled cheese sandwich, a seeping process to extract essential flavors and infuse them into the rum, before adding fresh-muddled tomato and basil, salt, Lillet Blanc and Glenfiddich Scotch whiskey. The effect is extraordinary: the grilled cheese rum leaps off the palate with flavors of cheddar, bread and butter, mingled with a dark sweetness, while the Lillet Blanc prevents the texture from veering into Bloody Mary territory. Topping the cocktail off with a drop of Glenfiddich adds a hint of off-the-grill smoke and evokes sipping, grilling and dunking.
Link via Althouse | Photo: Shawn Soole
(Video Link)
The mimic octopus, discovered ten years ago off the coast of Indonesia, has been observed duplicating the appearance of at least fifteen other species. It can swim like a banded sole, a type of poisonous flatfish. If it fears attack, it can bury six of its arms so that its two visible arms make it look like a particularly deadly snake. The octopus can also swim with its arms spread in such a way that it looks like a venomous lionfish. It's like the Mystique of the natural world.
Link via Super Punch
Therese of Earth and Living figured out how to construct shoes like those worn by Medieval Scandinavians. It's not as simple as you might think, but it's a quite feasible craft project for the non-professional leatherworker. She provides step-by-step instructions with pictures from start to finish. Once you're done, grab a sword and go raiding!
Link via The Presurfer
Etsy seller Rachel Peters makes Franken Toys -- freakish dolls and stuffed animals attached to each other, probably against their will: Elmo's head on a toucan's body, Ronald McDonald and a Teletubby, and more. It's like a mad scientist started producing children's television.
Link via Comics Alliance
Email This Post to a Friend