Rastra are dip pens that composers use (or used in the past) to draw musical staff. They were common among European composers in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Some, such as the one above, survive as prized antiques. Rastrum is the Latin word for, appropriately, "rake".
-via TYWKIWDBI | Photo: Worthpoint
There are so many reasons to get naked (or, as we bloggers call it, "in dress uniform"). One is to avoid polar bear attacks.
Polar bears are dangerous, aggressive predators that view humans as food. That's why, in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago, carrying a gun is not only allowed, but mandatory. It's why people in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada leave their car doors unlocked and have built a polar bear jail.
There's something else that you can do: strip. The New York Post reports:
“Polar bears are very curious,” Sarah Woodall, a tourism destination manager for Visit South Greenland told me during my first trip to the country in 2015. To that end, if you should come face-to-face with one, back away (slowly at first), while peeling off your clothes one item at a time. The bears are very curious so they should stop, sniff, and perhaps play with each item as they come across it, leaving you free to run somewhere across the Arctic buck naked.
Suddenly taking your clothes off can also shorten the line at store cashier lines or the DMV.
-via Dave Barry | Photo: Anita Ritenour
At an annual kite festival in Taiwan, participants lost their grip on a long kite named "Joy Falls from Heaven." But the tail of the kite wrapped around the neck of a 3-year old girl and carried her aloft. The terrifying part begins at the 0:47 mark in the above video. Thankfully, the New York Times reports, she's okay:
The girl, who was identified by news outlets only by her last name, Lin, landed mostly unscathed at the Hsinchu International Kite Festival. She suffered abrasions around her neck and face, the mayor of Hsinchu, Lin Chih-chien, wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. She was admitted to a hospital for a medical examination, he said.
-via Nag on the Lake
Two years ago, the DDB ad agency in Colombia created a series of bus stop advertisements on behalf of Hasbro's Play-Doh line. While waiting for your ride, you could take out the jar of Play-Doh and mold forms left for your convenience, including a monster (above), a robot, and an airplane.
-via Toxel
Sure you can just toss up some birdseed or even, if you'r feeling generous, some nuts for the neighborhood squirrels (a species that one exterminator described to me as "rats with good PR").
But Duke Harmon, a master woodworker, went much, much further. He built an elegantly refined bar that offers squirrels the opportunity to taste a vast variety of nuts in the most sought-after vintages. While enjoying the cultured and sophisticated ambiance, squirrels can try cashews, peanuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pistachios, and almonds.
I watch a lot of build videos in this job. Most are, to be blunt, painful to watch, even when the resulting work is beautiful. But Harmon is genuinely entertaining and a great video editor.
-via Technabob
Let my neighbors use my wifi pic.twitter.com/7mfmBRtRAa
— Pablo Rochat (@PabloRochat) August 27, 2020
Art director Pablo Rochat kindly provides his neighbors (and anyone walking by his home) with free WiFi access. The password is a little tricky, especially if you're trying to type it into a phone. But is is free.
-via Super Punch
This is really clever and I'll probably try it myself the next time my dog needs her nails trimmed.
Odile, a mastiff in Maldegem, Belgium, gets anxious during nail trimming. So a friend wrapped her head in plastic wrap, then applied a thick coating of peanut butter to the plastic. Odile was so distracted by the tasty treat that she barely noticed the work on her nails.
-via Born in Space
Sean O. is a master of cardistry: the flourishing movement of cards in complex movements, seemingly without effort but actually only through talent and long practice. In this routine, he twists a deck (I'm sure there's a proper technical term in the field) while tossing one card swinging around his back and returning into the deck.
-via Born in Space
The USCGC Kimball, which is based in Hawaii, held a swim call on Wednesday. That's when the ship halts and allows crew members to go for a swim in the ocean. They posted a rescue swimmer and watchmen because it's always a bit dangerous to conduct a swim call.
Why? Well, there are sharks in the area. And while about 40 swimmers were in the water, an 8-foot shark swam up to them. One coastie armed with a rifle fired shots at the shark very close to his shipmates. According to Good Morning America, everyone made it safely back on board--including the unicorn floatie that you can see drifting at the end of the video.
Emma Aldenryd, 18, is known as the "human Etch A Sketch." She has dermatographia, a medical condition that makes the skin very sensitive to the touch. By using a pencil as a stylus, she can make temporary, artistic marks on her body.
There's a nude model in this photo. Do you see her?
If you visit the Olomouc Museum of Art in Czechia, be sure to check out an installation mounted on the outside of the building. It's a sculpture by David Černý of a thief attempting to escape from the museum with stolen artwork. Atlas Obscura fills us in on this funny work of art:
The robber has a famed sculpture of Karel Nepraš in his bag, a tribute to the late Czech sculptor. The statue moves along the ledge once every hour. The voice used for the statue is that of well-known Czech singer David Koller, who is Černý’s friend.
The sculpture moves occasionally and can shout at passersby.
Photo: Michal Maňas
Like Bilbo Baggins said, "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door." Just stay inside. If not, then a smoking tire may slam into your house.
Ben Stentz, the homeowner, should at least be grateful that the stray tire rung his doorbell. That was good manners.
-via TYWKIWDBI
Pfc. Austin Ferrell will most likely graduate from basic training in the US Marine Corps on September 4. He's already broken marksmanship records. Every marine is supposed to be a rifleman and Ferrell has already proven that he can deliver the lead on target with remarkable precision. The Marine Corps Times reports:
The new Marine scored 248 out of a possible 250 on Table 1 of the Marine Corps Rifle Qualification and followed it by a perfect 100 on Table 2, earning him the recruit record at Parris Island, South Carolina, under the modern scoring system.
Table 2, which consists of close range fire at multiple targets and moving targets, was added to Marine Corps rifle qualifications in 2005.
After a perfect score at 200 yards, Ferrell missed at 300, causing a loss of two points. But he once again scored perfectly at 500 yards. He was so good that some instructors were skeptical that his performance was real:
“I was told by the recruits in the pits that were doing my target that all of the drill instructors were over there talking to make sure I wasn’t cheating … because they couldn’t believe it either,” Ferrell added.
Appropriately, Ferrell hopes to become a sniper.
-via Super Punch | Photo: Cpl. Shane Manson/USMC
Not every child looks the same. For kids with physical disabilities, it can be hard to relate closely to a doll that is very physically different. That's why former social worker Amy Jandrisevits makes dolls that have bodies like their child caretakers. My Modern Met reports:
The meticulous work is seen by Jandrisevits as a direct reflection of the recipients themselves. “We need to see each child as a work of art—a masterpiece. While doll-making is an art form, the real canvas is the child him/herself. If we want to become a society that values differences and inclusivity, this is where we start. We start with something as simple as a doll—a human likeness.”
Jandrisevits has made about three hundred dolls so far. You can see examples of her work on Instagram.
