John Farrier's Blog Posts

Florida Man Pets Great White Shark

This adorable animal moment was brought to us by Peter Lambie and Gretchen Cooper as they fished off the Gulf coast of Florida. They lured the shark by tossing it fish, then petted the beast when it began chomping on the boat engine. NBC 8 News, which has a video of the incident, reports the encounter lasted a long time:

The group, which included Lambie, Cooper and two others, Captain Tyler Levesque and Erika Almond of “Girls that Fish,” played with the shark for an hour. The captain even got close enough to pet the animal after feeding it some fish.

-via Dave Barry | Photo: Gretchen Cooper, Captain Tyler Levesque, Peter Lambie, Erika Almond


Oklahoma State Legislature Considers Bill to Authorize Bigfoot Hunting

Representative Justin Humphrey would like for the people of his state to have the opportunity to lawfully hunt sasquatches. Or to be more precise, his bill states:

The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission shall promulgate rules establishing a big foot hunting season. The Commission shall set annual season dates and create any necessary specific hunting licenses and fees.

This language seems dangerously vague, as one might interpret "big foot" to refer to creatures other than the cryptid and his kin. The Associated Press reports that Humphrey's project would more likely promote tourism in his district:

Rep. Justin Humphrey’s district includes the heavily forested Ouachita Mountains in southeast Oklahoma, where a Bigfoot festival is held each year near the Arkansas border. He says issuing a state hunting license and tag could help boost tourism.

Before you start contemplating caliber options, be aware that Humphrey claims that one may only hunt Bigfoot by trapping:

Humphrey says his bill would only allow trapping and that he also hopes to secure $25,000 to be offered as a bounty.

Image: Pixabay


Confused Penguin Finds His Waddle

Two waddles of rockhopper penguins in the Falkland Islands meet each other. After a brief conversation, they go their separate ways. But one inattentive penguin loses his waddle until a buddy gets his attention.

We all have a friend like that in our groups. And if you can't think of a friend who is like that, then I have bad news for you.

-via Born in Space


Skyline Jackets

Do you want to adopt the New York look? How about the Paris look? No, I don't mean looking as fashionable as the residents of those cities. Do you want to look like the cities themselves? Think of it as urban cosplay.

Fashion designer Virgil Abloh made this opportunity possible. At the recent Paris Fashion Week exhibition, Abloh debuted puffer jackets that show the skylines of Paris and New York City. Dezeen reports that Abloh chose specific buildings of architectural significance:

Abloh studied architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago where modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was head of the department of architecture in the 1940s and 50s and built the Crown Hall.
The emerald green marble set used for the show recalls the material used by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich at the Barcelona Pavilion, and several Barcelona chairs, which were designed by the pair, can be seen in the show.
"The building's material constructions and combinations informed aspects of the set created for the Fall-Winter 2021 presentation. 'Mies is my other Michael Jordan'," wrote Abloh in the show notes.

-via Nag on the Lake | Photo: Dezeen


Carved Paintings by Hannah Jensen

This is a skateboard. Hannah Jensen, an artist in New Zealand, covered it with 57 layers of paint. Then, drawing upon her background in printmaking, cut away selected layers until she was left with this eye-popping image of a kingfisher on the hunt. In an interview for Museum Week, Jensen succinctly described her technique as "textural and topographical."

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How AI Renders Realistic Images from Famous Paintings

Nathan Shipley, a graphic and digital artist in San Francisco, rendered famous paintings and cartoon characters as photographic images with the assistance of an artificial intelligence. You can find more examples of this project and an interview with him at Bored Panda. He explains that the AI has its own unique view of its subjects:

it’s fascinating to explore how an AI model built on a particular dataset with a particular framework can 'see' the world and then transform images. The AI 'knows' only what it has already seen and filters the world through this lens. Each little tweak to the dataset, the training parameters, the model, and the input imagery all have the possibility to change the output. This is a space to explore how artificial neural networks interpret the world in a way that can be similar to our own minds. I’m not saying that an image I created is what Mona Lisa actually looked like, but it is how the machine sees her based on this particular arrangement of variables. That, to me, is fascinating.

-via Design You Trust


To Celebrate Burns Night, Some Scots Have Launched Haggis into Space

Scotland brought into the world the best possible music (bagpipes), the best possible clothing (the kilt worn regimental fashion), and the best possible food (haggis). The latter is, of course, the heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep, ground up and boiled inside the stomach of said sheep.

Scotland gave the world haggis and now it is giving that culinary wonder to the universe. A Scottish butcher named Simon Howie has arranged for a package of his finest to be launched into low Earth orbit.

This was done in preparation for Burns Night, an annual Scottish celebration in honor of that nation's most famous poet, Robert Burns. One traditionally eats haggis on that evening, which is January 25. Sky News reports:

The haggis was attached to a weather balloon and soared more than 20 miles (107,293ft) above the Earth - equivalent to nearly four times the height of Everest.
After taking off from the Simon Howie headquarters in Dunning, it travelled over Stirling, Falkirk, Edinburgh and the Pentland Hills before landing safely in Lauder in the Borders.
Mr Howie said he wanted to start the year by "lifting the spirits of the general public" and was thrilled to work with Stratonauts "to take Scotland's national dish to new heights".

-via Dave Barry | Photo: Stratonauts/Simon Howie


See-Through Lemon Meringue Pie

This sheer delight is a lemon meringue pie by James Dempsey, the resident master chef at the Blackmoor Dining Room in Leeds, UK. How does he make this marvel? Dempsey is keeping his recipe a secret, but he explained to the tabloid Metro that:

‘The most difficult part of the process is to make sure that the pie pastry shell is completely sealed to ensure it holds the lemon meringue pie filling. Failing to do this will be disastrous.’

Check out Dempsey's Instagram page, which is filled with culinary wonders to delight both the eyes and the mouth.

-via Atlas Obscura


Jellied Moose Nose

You've successfully hunted a moose. Congratulations! As you butcher it, make sure that you use every part of the animal, from the tail to the nose.

How do you eat a moose's nose? Any good nose dish is stewed in its own natural juices and the jellied moose nose is no different. Atlas Obscura introduces us to this delicacy from Alaska and Canada:

A moose’s nose contains both white meat (from the bulb of the nose) and dark meat (from around the bones). The fur must be removed prior to cooking, either by being singed off over an open fire, peeled off after the nose has been boiled, or simply skinning the nose. Chefs then slice the nose and simmer it with onions, garlic, and an array of other spices, which may include cinnamon, cloves, allspice, or mustard seeds. Meat from other parts of the moose’s head, such as the ears and lips, may be added to the mix. Once the concoction has cooled down, the cook lays the pieces of meat in a loaf pan, douses them with broth, and places the mixture in the refrigerator so the broth can solidify. The resulting jelly is served like a loaf of bread and eaten in slices.

That's sounds delicious! If you are able to find and hunt moose in your area, then you can use this recipe to make your own jellied moose nose.


Darth Vader Baby Onesie Recalled as Choking Hazard

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has ordered a recall of a particular line of baby onesies featuring Darth Vader on the front. The snaps may fall off and become a choking hazard to babies. So don't be too proud of this sartorial terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force, especially if the baby has been constipated.

-via Dave Barry | Image: Disney


The Official Apple Beige

This is an Apple II computer. After it was released in 1977, it became a dominating force in the personal computer market.

Apples are beige--and a specific shade of beige.

This is a bottle of Apple's official beige paint. Ben Zotto tracked down this amazing antiquity and performed exhaustive research on the development of this beige and how historians confused it with an entirely different shade of beige. After consulting Pantone files, he has corrected that historical record. This beige is Pantone 14–0105 TPG.

-via Kottke | Photos: Kevin Burkett, Ben Zotto


How to Cook a Whale

Redditor Massagrauq passes along this helpful recipe for your most recent whale catch. It serves a complete meal for three whole villages. Personally, I prefer my whale heavy on the curry and light on the seal.

I'm uncertain about the origin of this recipe, but I suspect that it's in the book Arctic Home Cooking: Build Strong Families = Ikayuglugich-Payaniatiksranatigun-Anayuqaagich. That's a cookbook published by a social services agency in northwestern Alaska in 1998 or 1999.


This Taco Bell Has Surfboard Parking

South of San Francisco, right on Linda Mar Beach, there's a Taco Bell. It's so close that surfers need a place to stow their boards while they go inside to each, so the restaurant has a surfboard rack on the front wall.

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Mesmerizing Anime Silhouette Girls

It's not just the drawings themselves which are amazing. Kotetsu knows exactly where to visually place each silhouette for maximum visual impact. His anime girls, which are meticulously rendered and cut out from cardstock, tell stories when he holds them up to the sky, water, flowers, trees, and shrines.

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Amazing Star Trek and Doctor Who Basement

The space is immense, and not only because the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside (literally). Todd Pineapple Span spent 2 years and 3 months turning his basement into a fanboy's dreamhouse.

There's a Next Generation-era corridor that connects to a transporter room and a starship bridge. Sound effects activate automatically or with the tap of a touchscreen. Several functions operate through voice commands. The mechanical and visual effects of TARDIS activation are especially impressive. It's an astonishing work of inspired design and detailed craftsmanship.

-via EPBOT


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Profile for John Farrier

  • Member Since 2012/08/04


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