It's no wonder that people think of Mary Cotter as a Wonder Woman. Her 103rd birthday party was held at the Montclair Senior Center in Montclair, California. Ms. Cotter was busy the entire time. She's been volunteering there for 25 years and didn't see her own birthday as an excuse to slack off. She lives alone and drives her own car, so she has a mind to do what she wants at her own party. ABC News 7 reports:

Cotter says the secret to her longevity has to do with her daily routine. And it's pretty obvious if you stop and watch her for a moment.

"Just keep busy I guess," she said with a shrug.

She's been busy for years. In 1930, she helped her high school win the state swim championship. She taught swimming to children into her 60s and helped rescue sea turtles well into her 90s.

-via The Mary Sue

In casual conversation, friends Chris Pettazzoni, Keith Barnofski, and Andrew Brach talked about how wonderful peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwiches are. This is their traditional hangover cure. It was missing only one thing: a jolt of caffeine.

This led to the invention of STEEM. Each tablespoon has as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. CNN reports:

They put Barnofski's sous chef skills to work and devised a way to caffeinate peanut butter. Brach said they mixed green-coffee extract and natural agave sweetener into peanut butter. He said the caffeine gets extracted from the green coffee bean and mixes with the fat of the peanut butter.

"It's a slower release of energy," he said. "That way you don't get the sugar crash."

He said that two tablespoons of Steem is equal to two cups of coffee.

It look about two years to turn the concept into a jar of Steem ready for sale. He said they rented out a food processing facility at a community center in Greenfield, Mass., and since their launch in March 2014 they've sold nearly 6,000 jars.

-via David Thompson

(Photo: My Little Pony Japan)

So, obviously, we'll be closing down the blog for a few days so that the entire Neatorama crew can go there. Alex hasn't announced it yet, but that's the obvious choice.

So, to repeat, just in case you're still in shock from the joy of the moment: there's a My Little Pony-themed cafe in the Harajuku district of Tokyo. It's open until November 29, when I gather it will be closed to make way for some other, less interesting theme. The decorations, food, and furnishings show images of Generation 2, Generation 3, and Generation 4 ponies--but not Generation 1 or Generation 3.5, which is just as well, honestly. You can see more photos at Kotaku.

(Photo: Pekin Daily Times/Robert Downen)

On Thursday, 16 children and several mothers had gathered in a meeting room at the Morton Public Library in Morton, Illinois. A 19-year old man wielding two knives walked in and, blocking the door, announced his intention to kill them.

Standing between him and the children was 75-year old James Vernon. Vernon talked to the criminal, maneuvered him away from the door, then signaled the kids to slip out. After they did so, Vernon made good use of the knife-fighting training that the US Army gave him 50 years ago. The Pekin Daily Times reports:

Brown slashed from the right towards Vernon, who blocked the blade with his left hand. “I should have hit his wrist. That’s how you’re trained, but it’s been half a century,” he said.

“First rule of combat: Be fast and vigorous,” said Vernon, who was trained but never served in combat. Vernon’s medium build was enough to overcome his smaller attacker.

“I grabbed him and threw ... Somehow he wound up on a table” with the knife in his left hand pinned under his body, Vernon said. “I hit him on the (right) collarbone with my closed hand” until Brown, his arm numbed by the blows, dropped that knife.

Vernon held the attacker down until the police arrived. He was badly cut in the fight, but is recovering.

-via Joe Carter

(Photo: General Mills)

Why do you eat Lucky Charms? It's not for the nutrition. It's for the marshmallows. And General Mills, the company that produces the brand, is finally getting rid of those distracting non-marshmallow components. You won't have to sift them out on your own.

The company has produced 10 boxes of Lucky Charms that consist entirely of marshmallows. It's holding a contest for which 10 lucky people will get Lucky's most prized possessions. Hopefully the campaign will be so successful that General Mills will then mass produce and sell the boxes for ordinary purchase.

-via That's Nerdalicious!

(Photo: Cesar I. Martins)

The catacombs beneath the streets of Paris were built there centuries ago to provide burial space for the residents of the crowded city. Six million people have been buried there and they'll be your hosts if you stay the night on Halloween.

Airbnb is offering to let 2 guests sleep (if you can sleep) among the piles of skeletons and graves on Halloween. You'll get an evening concert prior to a spooky bedtime story by a storyteller. In the morning, "you become the only living person ever to wake up in the Paris catacombs."

-via Altas Obscura

(Photo: Global News)

"I had no idea it would take 3 cows to make 1 lobster."

A lobster shop in Shediac, New Brunswick, Canada commissioned local leather artist Timothee Richard to wrap a Buell Blast motorcycle with leather fittings that would make it look like a giant rolling lobster.

It took $2,000 worth of leather alone to compose this beautiful bike that should not be dipped in butter, despite its appearance. Richard calculates that the project took 173 hours over 14 days to complete the rideable motorcycle that he calls "Lobster Roll." You can see more photos and a video at Global News.

-via Geekologie

Kagen Sound is a woodworker in Denver. What he's made here is a desk and much, much more. It's covered inside and out with puzzles. Those puzzles open secret compartments and activate hidden features. He says that there are at least 20 of them, with at least one in each drawer.

The workings of a pipe organ are hidden inside. It has a memory board that is programmable by shifting wooden blocks. To play the organ, open and close the drawers in sequence. This pumps air into organ. You can see more photos showing the internal components of this incredible work of craftsmanship here.

-via Twisted Sifter

(Image: Warner Bros.)

Would you recognize Maurice Micklewhite if you saw his name in the credits of a film? Would you watch a John Wayne movie if the Duke went by Marion Morrison? Dan Meth of BuzzFeed is skeptical that these 12 celebrities would have become famous if they had stuck to the names they were born with. His list includes Judy Garland, Hulk Hogan, and Alan Alda, among other celebrities.

(Photo: unknown)

Did you work up a hunger while on the slopes of the Swedish ski resort of Lindvallen? When a McDonald's opened there in 1996, it was built with a ski-through window. You can keep locked into your skis while picking up a Big Mac at what is called the McSki. Here's a commercial that shows how to use it.

-via Mess Nessy Chic

At the end of The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader cuts off Luke Skywalker's hand in a duel. If you can find the remains of that hand, you've got the greatest of all Star Wars collectibles. I suspect you could get at auction at least a quarter of a million dollars for such a prize.

In the meantime, you can pick up the more affordable Saber Cuts #1, a custom toy made by toymaker Alessandro Randi--AKA Codec Zombie. He's made 50 plastic copies of Luke's severed hand and lightsaber. 

Saber Cuts #1 is the first toy that Codec Zombie is making in a line of all limbs cut off in the Star Wars movies. Which amputated limb do you want to buy?

-via Technabob

(Photo: Army Youth Sports)

Soccer is a great sport for kids--especially young children. It teaches kids important values and is a lot of fun. Dave Barry, a humorist and writer, composed this Q&A for parents who are considering getting their kids involved in soccer. Barry explains the roles of parents, kids, and coaches in this formative activity. Here is a selection:

Q. What is the object of the game of soccer?

A. The object of the game of soccer is for your child to score goals, so that he or she will receive a full athletic scholarship to a Divison 1-A college.

Q. What is the role of the other children on my child’s team?

A. Their role is to pass the ball to your child.

Q. What position should my child play?

A. Your child should play forward.

Q. What should I do if the coach wants my child to be a defender?

A. Be reasonable. Ask the coach, calmly and politely, why he wants your child to play defense. Listen to his explanation, and consider it carefully. Then, file a lawsuit.

Q. How many minutes should my child play?

A. Your child should play however many minutes are in the game.

Q. When is it acceptable for the coach to substitute another player for my child?

A. When your child is not at the game.

Q. What is my job, as a parent, during a soccer game?

A. Your job is to yell instructions to your child and the other children on your child’s team.

The fox cub wandered alone, helpless to extract himself from the cat food can stuck on his head. A human in Freienagen, Thuringia, Germany, rescued him. He named the fox Chappie.

Chappie loves the dogs who live on the farm--especially Merle, who dug a burrow for Chappie to live in. When he reaches the age of six months, Chappie will be able to choose to stay or leave. If he stays with his human and dog friends, then he'll be taught how to herd cattle--the first fox to do so.

(Video Link)

-via Gifsboom

Sentence of the day? Sentence of the day. pic.twitter.com/Em3RUzbdm1

— Michael Kruse (@michaelkruse) October 14, 2015

I can't argue with Politico writer Michael Kruse's assessment: the anonymous AP writer knows how to distill a complete story into a single sentence. That's not just good journalism. That's a screenplay in the making.

One question: the now-convicted and sentenced lady is referred to as a "former meerkat expert at the London Zoo." Does this mean that she no longer understands meerkats, is no longer employed by the London Zoo, or both?

.@michaelkruse For me, no such thing as a "former meerkat expert." What, you just forget all that stuff? Not with meerkats you don't.

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) October 14, 2015

-via Jonah Goldberg

Although manscaping wasn't Cookie Monster's thing, product endorsement deals that offered a lot of cookies were. Dan Meth, who previously showed us what Big Bird would look like plucked, now shows us a shaved Cookie Monster. He now looks hungry for not just cookies, but souls.

-via Tastefully Offensive