The scene could not have proceeded better even if it had been staged by a top Hollywood director. Reality exceeded fiction on a recent shooting for the BBC nature series Earth Unplugged.
The host, zoologist Mark Carwardine, complained about how hard it was to spot a blue whale. At that very moment, one surfaced near his boat and shot air out of its blowhole. You can skip to the 0:29 mark to watch the key moment.
-via 22 Words
There are two locations in Malaysia and a new one opening soon in Singapore. JT Network, the company which owns them, already operates DC Comics shops in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, and Malaysia. Now they're adding food service with dishes inspired by Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. The Bat Burger is wagyu beef with a black bun and a cheesy Batman symbol. You can view more photos of the cafe's foods at Comic Book Resources.
-via Geek Tyrant
Cherry has to treat you this way. But she enjoys it, too. How could she not like insulting doofuses like you who apparently can't read a menu or make a decision to save your life?
Welcome to Ed Debevic's, a diner in Chicago. The waiters are specially trained to be rude--although they may also have a lot of natural talent, too. In Cherry's case, she's actually a character developed by a woman named Kryssie. Be sure to leave her a good tip if she's particularly ill-mannered with you. You inspire the best in her, but it's still hard work.
-via First We Feast
When Mad Men ended after 7 seasons, it was time for the production studio to dispose of the many props featured on the show, some for several seasons. Screenbid, a company that auctions Hollywood props, recently did so for Mad Men. Among its prizes was Don Draper's 1965 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. You can find the other listings here, including Draper's newspaper ad denouncing tobacco, his dining room bar kit, and Roger Sterling's blue suit.
-via Messy Nessy Chic
It's a bow tie bow tie. Get it? A bow tie shaped like bow tie pasta!
This is my favorite among Rommy Debommy's funny food ties, which also include a waffle, French fries with ketchup, and marshmallow candy. Rommy makes each one by hand from her studio in Rotterdam.
I hope that they're clip-on ties because it's hard to tie pasta when it's wet and slippery.
-via That's Nerdalicious!
Today, I was at a large workplace lunch. It required great concentration because I had to pretend to be normal for over an hour. I think that I did reasonably well. At one point, my boss insisted that I engage in interpersonal communication in this professional setting. Thankfully, I am always prepared to talk about anime.
That's one of the challenges of being introverted in an extraverted world. Anna Borges of BuzzFeed understands. She's doodled 17 graphs that illustrate the introverted experience.
-via Pleated Jeans
Paralysed rabbit walks again with bunny wheelchair http://t.co/ytODA4pD8w pic.twitter.com/KJbLojhSmP
— Telegraph News (@TelegraphNews) August 18, 2015
The vet told Melanie James that she should just have Bertha put to sleep. But James had other ideas. She modified a dog's wheelchair to fit her bunny, who has been struggling to get around after a hip injury. James tells the Daily Telegraph that Bertha is putting the chair to good use:
"She sits in it maybe for a couple of hours and then she has a rest."
The device hooks onto the bunny’s back and allows her to roam freely around her home at the Ani-Mel charity in Bank Mill, Cumbria.
Her devoted owner also gives Bertha daily baths, physiotherapy, antibiotic injections and plenty of movement to aid her recovery, with the hope that soon Bertha may be able to walk again soon.
(Photo: Gonzalo Viramonte)
32 years ago, architect Ernesto Bedmar bought an alley in Córdoba, Argentina. It seemed like it was hardly big enough to build anything substantial, but Bedmar erected a pleasant loft. After many years, it began to deteriorate, so he looked for a new purpose.
The Japanese artist Hokusai (1760-1849) swept Japan and, long after his death, the world, with his precise, vibrant woodblock prints. Images such as The Great Wave off Kanagawa almost seem to move. And now they really do, thanks to a bit of digital editing by a modern artist known as Segawa Thirty-Seven. He turned 5 famous works by Hokusai into funny animated .gifs, such as the above Tea House at Koishikawa. You can view the rest at Design Boom.
Isn't the appeal of the Nintendo Game Boy that it's small and easily portable? That market must have changed. If you want a huge Game Boy, then check out Freezer Boy's line of Game Boy appliance magnets. They'll give any attractive surface the appearance of the classic video game platform.
-via Geekologie
Roger Angus Dorn, a rabbit, plays a central role in the new movie Jurabbit Park, which is directed by Roger's human, Matt Christensen. This is one of 9 photos of Roger re-enacting scenes from the 1993 film Jurassic Park. In this one, Jeff Goldblum would like for his companions to flee the fearsome Oryctolagus Rex a bit more expeditiously. You can see the other pictures in the series at Pleated Jeans.
(Photo: NBC News)
That little knife isn't a sword.
Now this scimitar-that's a sword!
Two masked robbers entered a convenience store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One brandished a sword at the owner and demanded money.
It was a formidable weapon. But it was still an inadequate sword for the task. The store owner responded by whipping out his scimitar and chasing the pair out of his store. The robbers dropped all of their loot and fled. You can watch the hilarious security footage here.
-via Dave Barry
(Photo: Jon Callas)
For far too long, I lived away from South. When I would return to my parents' home in the paradise of Alabama, I would hear the song "Sweet Home Alabama"--if not on the radio, then in my soul.
42 years ago, the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd released its iconic tribute to the heart of the Deep South. C.J. Lotz of Garden & Gun magazine interviewed Gary Rossington, one of the founders of the band and composers of the song:
What was the process like to write “Sweet Home Alabama”?
I had this little riff. It’s the little picking part and I kept playing it over and over when we were waiting on everyone to arrive for rehearsal. Ronnie and I were sitting there, and he kept saying, play that again. Then Ronnie wrote the lyrics and Ed [King] and I wrote the music.
The lyrics were a response to a Neil Young song, right?
Everyone thought it was about Neil Young, but it was more about Alabama. We had toured there, going all around playing clubs and National Guard armories. Everyone was real nice. When we were out in the country driving all the time, we would listen to the radio. Neil Young had “Southern Man,” and it was kind of cutting the South down. And so Ronnie just said, We need to show people how the real Alabama is.
We loved Neil Young and all the music he’s given the world. We still love him today. It wasn’t cutting him down, it was cutting the song he wrote about the South down. Ronnie painted a picture everyone liked. Because no matter where you’re from, sweet home Alabama or sweet home Florida or sweet home Arkansas, you can relate. […]
What’s the best thing about being Southern?
I love being Southern because of the people and the fans we have. People down here are more friendly—really warm people. We travel all over the world and it seems like the South is the place where the people are nicest and they think of the fellow man more.
-via Glenn Reynolds
This is Ferrolic--a clock displays the time by manipulating magnetic fluids. The figures are somewhat vague and soft, like the inkblots of Hermann Rorschach's famous psychological test. Appropriately, Zelf Koelman of the Eindhoven University of Technology designed the clock to be adjustable by the user:
The software behind these electromagnets, and thus the shapes and information displayed, can be edited. Ferrolic is controlled by an intelligent internal system that is accessible trough a web-browser. In this way users can assign “the creatures” to display time, text, shapes and transitions. Experienced users can create animations from their own custom shapes.
-via Fast Co Design
Sesame Street lasted a long time. It even survived the collapse of civilization. But it was a very different place. Come and play. Everything's A-OK. Friendly neighbors there. That's where we meet. Just keep singing that song. Pretend that nothing has changed and you'll feel a lot better. Try to not make eye contact with the new residents, though.
Jenn of EPBOT recently attended the Tampa Bay Comic-Con. These three road warriors did, too. You can see more photos of them and other cosplayers here.
UPDATE 8/21/15: Commenter Kitty Sullivan identifies as the fierce Elmo hunter. You can see more photos of Kitty and her friends at Wizards of Cos.