Stuart and Cedar Anderson are a father and son team of professional beekeepers. They've developed a new type of beehive that they call Flow. The Flow hive is built with partially formed cells. When bees take up residence in it, they make use of this pre-existing cell network. With the turn of a spigot, the cells split open, dumping their honey down a channel. There's no need to open the hive and scrape off honey off individual frames. They can fill two large jars of honey very quicky using a Flow hive.
Remember that Sunday is Ninja Day. When a parcel delivery notification sticker suddenly and inexplicably appears on your door, take a moment to thank the unseen driver for his work, wherever he is. Getting past your sight invisibly isn’t easy, but he puts in the effort.
It was literally the last second of the game between two eighth grade basketball teams in Kansas. The Riley County Falcons (white uniforms) played against the Rock Creek Mustangs (black uniforms). The score was 26 to 25. A Mustangs player had the ball. He had one and only one chance to even the score.
He jumped for a layup just as the time ran out. He ball landed on the rim.
Debby Witt of the blog VA Viper spotted this article published a year ago in The Atlantic. It refers to a now legendary incident in which a drunken college student attempted to launch a rocket from his bottom. Witt suggests that author Caitlin Flanagan may have composed one of the best opening paragraphs ever. I’m inclined to agree. Behold Flanagan’s genius:
One warm spring night in 2011, a young man named Travis Hughes stood on the back deck of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house at Marshall University, in West Virginia, and was struck by what seemed to him—under the influence of powerful inebriants, not least among them the clear ether of youth itself—to be an excellent idea: he would shove a bottle rocket up his ass and blast it into the sweet night air. And perhaps it was an excellent idea. What was not an excellent idea, however, was to misjudge the relative tightness of a 20-year-old sphincter and the propulsive reliability of a 20-cent bottle rocket. What followed ignition was not the bright report of a successful blastoff, but the muffled thud of fire in the hole.
The winter storm in the United States produced this marvel in Greenville, North Carolina. On Tuesday afternoon, people spotted a bizarre ice formation in the parking lot of the Vidant Medical Center. The ice, which is attached to the ground, forms the outline of the front of a jeep. WITN reports:
One of the photo-takers' theory is that the Jeep owner left their vehicle running, warming up the engine. The imprint was then left after they backed out of the parking space. The ice was attached to the curb.
[Insert here a joke that my wife would not find at all funny.]
Am I right, guys? Ha!
So, anyway: Israel Silva of Lovell, Wyoming took a plea deal on several charges related to a high-speed, alcohol-fueled police chase after he was caught in a burglary. District Court Judge Steven Cranfill accepted the arrangement and sentenced Silva to 6 to 10 years in prison. But, first, despite any possible legal problems, Judge Cranfill performed Silva’s wedding in the same courtroom. C.J. Baker writes in the Powell Tribune:
“There will be no, ‘You can kiss the bride,’ or whatever they say when people get married,” said Israel Silva’s defense attorney, Sarah Miles, before her client’s impromptu Wednesday wedding in Park County’s District Courtroom.
In fact, there were few of the usual marriage traditions in the hastily organized ceremony.
While a detention deputy was trying to determine whether the inmate’s wedding had been cleared by jail supervisors, District Court Judge Steven Cranfill entered the courtroom and wed Silva and his 19-year-old bride.
With the groom clad in the Park County Detention Center’s standard orange jumpsuit and shackles — and the bride required to stay about 15 feet back to comply with the jail’s no-contact rules — they exchanged vows and were pronounced man and wife in a roughly one-minute ceremony.
It was witnessed by around a half-dozen of the newlyweds’ family and friends, some court officials and a couple of the people whose property Silva damaged during an August crime spree. The crime victims were there to testify to the monetary damage caused by Silva as he is disputing the amounts.
Immediately after the pronouncing the marriage, Cranfill directed the couple to retake their seats, and Silva’s sentencing hearing began.
Objects in mirrors aren’t flipped on the X-axis (horizontal) or the Y-axis (vertical) but the Z-axis (depth). Objects only appear to be flipped horizontally because our minds are doing that. Our bodies are symmetrical along the Y-axis. So when we look at ourselves in the mirror, we don’t perceive that we are being flipped along the Z-axis.
Because people are incapable of shutting up, it has become necessary to move to more quiet environs. Where is that possible? Simply moving to sparsely-inhabited places may not be enough. We must consult this map of the 48 contiguous states created by the National Park Service. It measures, by decibels, the ambient noise levels across the country. It looks like Nevada is the right place to get peace and quiet. I’ll go there. No, you may not come with me.
This is Standard Reference Material No. 2387. It’s the finest peanut butter in the world—from a purely scientific point of view. The National Institute of Standards of Technology, an office of the US Department of Commerce, uses it as a baseline when analyzing the chemical properties of peanut butters. In 2003, New York Times food critic William Grimes got to the chance to sample this government-manufactured delicacy. He writes:
The government's peanut butter tastes a lot better than it looks, which is like dark-brown industrial paste. I wasn't sure whether to eat it or lay down some new bathroom tile. As a food product, it seemed to aim for dead average. The peanut flavor was muted, and it lacked the creamy, unctuous quality of storebought brands. If you like peanut butter to stick to the roof of your mouth, this is one for you.
At that price, I would hope so. For as Nicole Wakelin of That’s Nerdalicious writes, “choosy Moms choose Standard Reference Material No. 2387.”
For some people, Ninja Day comes only once a year. But I say: live every day like it’s Ninja Day.
Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku explains that February 22 is Ninja Day because of a pun in the Japanese language. The cities of Iga and Koka are historically associated with ninjas, so people there are celebrating enthusiastically. Government workers are dressing as ninjas and interacting with residents appropriately.
On this most cherished of holidays, wish the ninjas in your life, such as the one on the ceiling directly above you, a merry Ninja Day!
"What?! Oh my God! Yeah! Are you serious right now?! Is this for real?!" The look on this woman's face starting at the 0:17 mark is just perfect. Her boyfriend pretended to take a selfie with her, but actually began recording a video. As a result, we can all share in this amazing moment of surprise and joy.
First, you'll need a custom dental appliance called a grille. This particular one looks like your teeth are secured by a padlock. Then, pull a stocking over your head. Finally, place a look of resigned horror upon your face as you realize where your life choices have led you.
Got it? Then you have look of fashion designer Shayne Oliver's "Daddy" line. Michael Schneier of the New York Times saw it at this year's New York Fashion Week. He describes it:
They commissioned custom grilles to look like orthodontic braces; threaded them through with padlocks and piercing-parlor barbells; and covered the models’ heads, faces and hair with shimmering stockings. (In some cases, facial hair or tufted eyebrows were drawn or glued on top.)
Karl-Johan Ekeroth and Christian Strömqvist of PinPin Studio are designers in Gothenberg, Sweden. They explain that they "take play seriously." In cooperation with the Icehotel, a hotel built of snow and ice every year, they built a play area using just those materials. It consists of 2 slides, a maze, and a structure that they call a "snow lantern." The result is a winter wonderland that inspires play from both children and children at heart. You can see more photos of it at Design Taxi.
Coming soon to the Neatorama headquarters executive restroom: it's the Hello Kitty collectible electronic toilet seat! Sanrio, the company that owns the Hello Kitty brand, showed this new toilet seat design at a show of new Hello Kitty products in Tokyo two weeks ago.
It has built-in heating and a variety of warm water jets to cleanse various parts of your body which we all insist remain vague and nameless.
