Do you love spiders? Of course you do! Spiders are fun. Lisa Donovan loves it when her pregnant giant orb spider (Nephila maculata) goes for a walk on her face. The spider is venomous, but, Donovan points out, she has a pleasant personality.
-via Ace of Spades HQ
Can you identify the many different instruments in a classical music orchestra? If not, then I suggest this handy guide of instrument names that make practical sense. Don’t underestimate the skill necessary to play a whack-a-dingle. You’ve got to do a lot more than just whack your dingle to make the dingle sing.
(Photo: Village Vanguard)
You don’t have to be alone. Technology makes highly realistic relationship simulations possible. This particular one comes packaged with instant curry, which is probably when you need a girlfriend approximation the most.
Rocket News 24 reports that the newly-released Men’s Delusion Curry—Orange Flavor comes with a DVD of the lovely model Mao Harada. You can call her Haradan. She’ll gladly chat with you over curry during the story, which has 3 chapters:
1. The Younger Girlfriend
2. The Older Girl Who Lives Next Door and is Sort of Risqué
3. Haradan Made a Home-Cooked Meal
(Photo: Lee Beattie)
Photographer Neil Thomas Douglas was on a flight to Galway, Ireland when he noticed that the passenger seated right next to him looked just like him—nearly an identical twin! They took a photo and shared a laugh. Then, later that night, they bumped into each other a pub.
Have you ever met a doppelganger of yourself?
-via Huffington Post
(Image: Gulf News)
Prem Kumar is, amazingly, still alive! His hands are in great condition, even though he regularly dips them in boiling oil.
Kumar, 65, is a chef in New Delhi. When he was young, he saw his father, from whom he inherited the restaurant, casually dip his hands in pots of boiling oil. Kumar tried it himself and found that he could do it, too.
Now people visit his shop not only for the fish, but for the amazing show he puts on. On request from his customers, he'll dip his hands in the oil.
Are you worried about this practice being unhygenic? Don't! That oil is 200°C. It will kill any bacteria on his hands.
-via Oddity Central
Ruby Silvious is an artist in upstate New York. As a creative displine, she decided to paint at least one image per day for 363 days. She chose as her medium used tea bags. She features scenes of everyday life, still lives, figure studies, and images of both whimsy and melancholy. You can follow her progress on Instagram.
We're astonishingly close to being able to duplicate the magic displayed in the Disney movie Aladdin. That's because of the 2-wheeled scooter that some people are very generously referring to as a hoverboard. Mo Khan demonstrates in this cosplay that seems to impress no one at the Walmart.
The next challenge: finding a way to bring Jasmine along for the ride. That magic carpet is definitely not a two-seater.
-via BuzzFeed
Alexis Noriega of Tucson Estates, Arizona makes amazingly detailed and precise costumes and clothing using feathers. At her Etsy shop, Noriega says that she's already booked through November. I'm not surprised! Her craftsmanship is incredible.
In this video, Noriega shows off a pair of wings that almost look natural. They're pneumatically controlled with the push of a button, spreading and contracting. On Facebook (auto-start video), she explains that they cost about $2500 and that she hopes to put up a video tutorial about them soon.
-via Laughing Squid
(Image: Lucasfilm)
It is trendy to argue that, in Star Wars, the bad guys are actually the good guys and vice versa. This is the geeky version of #SlatePitches--deliberately contrarian takes for the sake of argument that Slate has became famous (or infamous) for. For example, just last week I linked to a video that stated that gangster and slaver Jabba the Hutt was a fine fellow.
Most of the arguments in favor of Palpatine's Empire in Star Wars falter over at least one major problem: in Episode IV, Grand Moff Tarkin uses the first Death Star to blow the heavily-populated world of Alderaan to bits. You can watch the scene here.
Who is actually going to say that the massacre of the people of Alderaan was a reasonable and ethical course of action? Sonny Bunch of the Washington Post does. He argues that Tarkin had no reason to believe anything that proven liar Princess Leia said and that the obliteration of Alderaan was acceptable for a larger goal of establishing peace:
The little girl, who appears to be dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, sees the animatronic monster in front of the house. She realizes that she's not in Kansas anymore and decides that she wants no part of trick-or-treating at this house. I don't blame her. As she says, "That's freaky."
-via 22 Words
(Photo: Nina Keneally)
Nina Keneally, 63, raised 2 millennial sons of her own. Now, through NeedAMom, she's offering that expertise to other young people in Brooklyn's trendy neighborhood of Bushwick. She provides professional-grade mothering to her clients who want a mom but, the New York Post stresses, "not their own nagging, guilt-tripping, real-life mom."
What does Keneally give her clients? What adults still need from their moms:
She’ll dish out criticism-free advice over coffee, help plan and shop for a dinner party, bake a cake and bring it over, and even buy presents for your actual mother and wrap them for you.
NeedAMom is a shoulder to cry on, not a cleaning service, Keneally stressed on Wednesday.
“Don’t expect me to clean your closet or do your laundry,” she warned, adding in true mom fashion, “I’m not your maid!”
Keneally realized that she had something to offer when millennials that she met casually sought her out for advice:
“I found they’d reach out to me,” she said of the millennials she’d meet in yoga studios and cafes.
Keneally offered advice and a compassionate ear, and realized she could monetize her mothering.
She’s had about six clients so far, all in Bushwick.
“All the friends and people around me are the same age, and shrinks are just kinda impersonal,” Natalie Chan, 34, explained. She pays Keneally $40 for coffee and counseling sessions after their Thursday yoga class each week.
“She doesn’t judge,” Chan added. “She just kinda, like, smiles and says, ‘Stop doing that.’ She’ll never say, ‘You’re stupid.’ ”
-via Glenn Reynolds
(Photos: Jörg Bittner Unna, Figma)
On the left is Renaissance master Michelangelo's iconic statute David, now in Florence. On the right is an action figure of that statue made by Figma. It's composed of plastic and has articulated joints, so it's a lot more flexible than the original marble.
You can put the Biblical hero in his original pose, a martial arts stance, or anything you like! Put the sling, which is included, into his hands and he's ready to slay a giant. He'd make a great gift for an imaginative child who likes to play with action figures, or even a dollhouse that needs something new and different.
This is one of a few famous statues made into action figures by Figma. We've already seen Venus de Milo with arms. In addition to her and David, Figma also offers Rodin's The Thinker.
What other classical statue is ready for this treatment? I'd love to see a Venus of Willendorf action figure.
-via Technabob
For 25 years, Sekar has operated a camera repair shop in Chennai, India. He regularly fed the birds who lived near it. About 10 years ago, a tsunami drove 2 parakeets to his neighborhood. He was fascinated by the beautifully colorful birds. Sekar fed them.
More parakeets came. Soon, he was feeding thousands of parakeets every day. He does this by laying wood planks across the roof of his shop, then spreading 60 kilograms of feed over them. This task, which costs 40% of his income, wakes him at 4:30 every morning.
The sight of thousands of parakeets perching in one place is an amazing swath of color that impresses people who live and work in the neighborhood.
This is Sekar's life. He enjoys it. But he's also feeling old. It's harder for him to do the physical work of hauling and arranging so much bird food. He says:
Like how people keep parakeets in a cage, now the birds have me in a cage.
-via Colossal
(Photo: Gustavo Alvarez)
In 2009, Gustavo Alvarez (right) was serving time in Chino, California when a horrible race riot broke out. The black and Hispanic inmates were at each other's throats. To make peace, Alvarez said to the other men in his housing unit, "Gather up whatever food you have, and let’s feed these guys." Their hospitality paid off by diminishing some of the tension.
Alvarez was a grill cook in prison. After he got out, he wrote and published a cookbook filled with recipes from prisoners who have to improvise with ingredients and kitchen facilities. It's called Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars.
In a fascinating interview for the food blog First We Feast, Alvarez describes prison food culture:
(Photo: University of Detroit Jesuit High School)
The National Alliance to End Homelessness says that there are 49,933 homeless veterans in the United States. In Detroit, homeless veterans who die without families to claim their bodies get a proper send off, thanks to students at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School. As a community service, students there serve as pallbearers, bringing an element of dignity and reverence to the funerals for these fallen American veterans. The Huffington Post talked to Todd Wilson, the director of service at the school:
“One of our challenges and responsibilities is to ensure that the students are emotionally prepared for serving,” Wilson told HuffPost. “Initially, we were hoping for at least 20 students at the training, but we ended up having over 50 students who participated.” […]
“We strongly feel that everyone deserves the dignity of having people present at their last moments,” Leonard Froehlich, a 12th-grader who served as a pallbearer, said in a statement provided to The Huffington Post. “It was a real privilege to be a part of this service for these men who have fought for our country.”
While the the first outreach focused on veterans, the students hope to expand their program to all people in need, and families who simply do not have pallbearers.
