A fun-size human appeared just outside the polar bear enclosure at the St. Louis Zoo in Missouri. It was the perfect snack. So the polar bear dove into the water and tried to snatch him. Alas, the glass got in the way. Keep trying!
-via Telegraph
John Farrier's Blog Posts
(Photo: Will Kutz)
This is "Trash Can," a sculpture by Will Kurtz that was priced at $8,000. It consists of an overflowing trash can and a sculpture of a raccoon. The piece was on display at Art Southampton in New York City. Two weeks ago, it was among several sculptures arranged in an exhibit. Alas, before the show opened, cleaners, mistaking it for an ordinary trash can, emptied out all of the trash.
None other than actress Brooke Shields, who was curating the show, saved the day. Page Six reports that she noticed the problem before the opening:
But when Shields and artist Kurtz showed up for the VIP preview Thursday at Nova’s Ark Project, the artwork trash can had been emptied. The actress and the artist were forced to go rummaging in the real trash to recover his valuable work.
Nick Korniloff, founder and owner of Art Southampton, told Page Six, “We had works from Warhol to Banksy on display this weekend. We have a very aggressive cleanup crew because we like to keep the event pristine. They are trained to recognize and not take out any art, but unfortunately they looked at a trash can, and threw the contents away. The raccoon was left standing there next to an empty can.
-via Weird News | Photo: watchwithkristin
.JPG){kind=link}
It's hot in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Arnold the bulldog wants to cool off in the kiddie pool. Even though it's empty, he's good. He'll just swim around in the air, dragging his body along the bottom.
-via Tastefully Offensive
(Photo: Chris Yarzab)
The Greater Manchester Police Trafford South (UK) reports that yesterday, a man attacked an 86-year old woman in a grocery store and demanded her money. She refused and instead pulled a package of bacon out of her shopping cart, then beat him over the head with it. The police state on Facebook that:
The offender then retreated and made off from the supermarket. #BeatOffWithBacon
Oh, bacon: is there anything you can't do?
-via First We Feast
This is Perch Light, a lamp series by Umat Yamac, a furnishings designer and architect in London. They're made of paper folded to look like origami birds. The birds are balanced on perches that are either attached to a wall or a floor stand.
Our Institutions are private property - playing #PokémonGo there is trespassing. pic.twitter.com/ijSncfZzES
— Correctional Service (@CSC_SCC_en) July 19, 2016
The officials of the Correctional Service of Canada appreciate your interest in playing Pokémon Go. But you should stay outside of the wire, even if you see a Mewtwo or a Articuno. Let the prisoners take those, no matter how rare they are.
-via Jeremy Barker
(Photo: Tama66)
In the early 16th Century, the brilliant Leonardo da Vinci was in Venice. That wealthy city was in dire straits, as its navy had been badly defeated by the Ottoman Empire. There was serious reason to think that the city itself might fall to the Turks. The Ventian government needed solutions and there was no better mind to develop them than Leonardo's.
Among the many ideas he sketched in his notebooks was a complete design for an underwater diving apparatus, a reconstruction of which is pictured above. Cara Giaimo describes the suit at Atlas Obscura:
The most complete plans show a leather suit and facemask, with goggles and an inflatable wineskin to enable sinking and floating. Two hollow breathing tubes, made of cane and reinforced with steel rings, lead from the diver's mouth up to the surface of the water—some incarnations show them attached to a floating disc, while others have them leading to a pocket of air trapped by a diving bell. There is even a special pee pouch for the diver, ensuring he can stay down there regardless of whether nature calls.
Some historians think this suit was part of an elaborate plan to attack the Ottoman ships from below, in order to sink them or release prisoners. Others, including McCurdy, say it more likely dates back further, to da Vinci's time in Milan, in which case he may have intended it to attack Venice instead. (It was a time of tumultuous alliances.)
Jade Stoner, 7 years old, was killed in a car accident. Seeing through her agony, her mother Debbie Stoner donated her daughter's organs.
Jade's heart went to Nellie-Ma Evans, a baby born with cardiomyopathy. She wouldn't have survived without a heart transpant.
That transplant was successful. Nellie-Ma is now 11 years old. Debbie Stoner recently met her. She placed her ear on Nellie-Ma's chest and listened to the sound of her daughter's heart, still beating 10 years later. Stoner described the experience to the Telegraph (auto-start):
"The first time I’d heard Jade’s heart beating was when I was pregnant with her at my ultrasound scan and it sounded just as strong," Mrs Stoner said.
"I knew her heart was no longer Jade’s because she’s no longer with us but it was a part of her.
"Although I lost the most precious thing in my life, she is continuing to live on, in a way."
Yes, the temperature is in the triple digits. But it feels like it's in the quadruple digits. And this Egyptian spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptia) has one priority: cooling down. If that means hanging out with the humans, then he's not going to be choosy about his company.
-via reddit
(Image: WAGA TV)
Police in Barnesville, Georgia found 19-year old Fred Barley in a tent at Gordon State College. He told them that he had ridden a borrowed child-sized bicycle for 6 hours to the college in order to register for his second semester of classes.
The police said that he couldn't stay there, but they paid for a motel room for him for 2 days. Then they set up a GoFundMe account on his behalf. As news of Barley's efforts spread, that account has so far raised $184,000 to support his college and career ambitions. He's also gained practical support as well, as KTLA 5 reports:
One supporter, Casey Blaney, partnered with the motel owner to pay for Barley’s stay until he can move into his dorm room, which the college is allowing him to do on Monday.
Debbie Adamson, the owner of a local pizzeria, gave Barley a job.
Barley is grateful and plans to put the support of his new friends to good use. He's majoring in biology and hopes to become a doctor.
-via Ace of Spades HQ
Most of us don't grow up to be heroes, or even to live the lives that we had planned. That's okay--or it should be. You can still be a hero to the person whose toilet is clogged.
Michael Miller got his flugelhorn and Bryce Hayashi got his trumpet and they journeyed to the home of John Williams, the composer of the music of Star Wars. Standing outside his home, they played the title theme for the franchise.
It was a risky move. Williams could have taken offense at having his private life invaded by fans. But he was instead delighted at their performance. He came out of his house to greet them.
-via Uproxx
(Photo of Battalion Chief Lawrence Stack via the New York Times)
Battalion Chief Lawrence Stack, 58, of the New York Fire Department looked through his binoculars on the morning of September 11, 2001 as the second plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center:
“He lowered his binoculars and said, ‘Guys, I think they’re going to need us,’ ” his son said, recalling what he has been told of that day.
Along with too many of his comrades, Chief Stack fell in the line of duty on that day. His body was never recovered.
That's a problem because to hold a Catholic funeral Mass, you must have present the remains of the deceased. Fortunately, Stack donated bone marrow in 2000. Last year, his family asked the New York Blood Center to locate and return the sample. The Star-Tribune reported in June that Stack's bone marrow donation has been returned to his family. Now they can proceed with a funeral Mass:
His funeral will be held Friday at Sts. Philip and James Church in St. James on Long Island, with the expansive pageantry and huge turnout of firefighters and officers that accompany all departmental ceremonies.
-via TYWKIWDBI
(Photo of the Midnight Sun Mosque in Inuvik by the US Embassy to Canada)
The town of Iqaluit in the Canadian Arctic has a growing Muslim community. Many members fast from sunup to sundown during the sacred month of Ramadan. That's a challenge because during the summer, daylight can last longer than 20 hours. The Guardian talked to Muslims there about the experience:
“I haven’t fainted once,” said 29-year-old Abdul Karim, one of the few in the city who has fastidiously timed his Ramadan fast to the Arctic sun since moving from Ottawa in 2011. This year that means eating at about 1.30am before the sun rises and breaking his fast at about 11pm when the sun sets.
Other Muslims in the Canadian Arctic set their fasting timetable by more southerly cities:
Most in Iqaluit adhere to the timetable followed by Muslims in Ottawa, some 1,300 miles south of the city – a nod to the advice of Muslim scholars who have said Muslims in the far north should observe Ramadan using the timetable of Mecca or the nearest Muslim city.
-via TYWKIWDBI
(Photo: San Juan Community Home Trust)
The community of Oak Bay, British Columbia is booming. Developers are tearing down old houses to make room for newer, more luxurious homes for deep-pocketed residents.
A few miles away lies San Juan Island, which is in the United States. People there need houses, too. So they're buying older homes from across the border, then floating them on barges over to the United States. Knowledge Network reports:
In the past 10 months, seven homes have been brought by barge to the island by a group focused on affordable housing. Their hope is to bring five more homes, once the necessary funds are raised.
“We’re very appreciative,” said Nancy DeVaux of the San Juan Community Home Trust. “We really like the fact that they have a lot of character and that we’re keeping the homes out of the landfill.”
-via Nag on the Lake
Email This Post to a Friend