John Farrier's Blog Posts

Amazing Dad Builds Submarine Crib

Redditor radamshome is a master crafter and dedicated father. He's built some amazing things for his kids, including an indoor fairy tree for his daughter and a lemon-shaped go-kart for his son.

His most recent project is a crib that looks like a colorful submarine. He built it for the magazine Fatherly, which will auction it off to benefit the Seattle Children's Hospital.

Radamshome learned how to use fiberglass, then shaped it around styrofoam parts and covered them with marine-grade resin.

You can see more build photos here. Radamshome thoughtfully covered even small details, such as including a propeller that actually rotates.

-via Geekologie


Snow Ravioli

From TYWKIWDBI comes this fascinating photo and the note that the singular form of ravioli is raviolo. So this is a snow raviolo. It's technically edible and probably goes well with marinara sauce. As you can see, it can feed a family of four.


The Epcot Ball Gown

The biggest Disney princess (at least, at 2.35 million cubic feet, by volume) has to be Princess Epcot. Cosplayer @skygetsfancy made this dress inspired by the Spaceship Earth geodesic sphere at the Epcot Disney theme park. She writes:

This is one of my absolute favorite photos from this shoot, I love how much of the tetrahedron skirt this photo shows! I studied the pattern on Spaceship Earth A LOT and went through several patterns to figure out the perfect height and width for them. My original design for this gown actually included them going up into the bodice too, I’m way happier that I went with this version!

-via Cosplay in America


The Sauna as a Solution for Loneliness

Traveler Adam Rang loves to visit Estonia. In that nation, the sauna is a revered institution. He has found that the sauna is a social nexus and, possibly, a treatment for loneliness:

I bought my own home in Tallinn with a sauna and made a new group of friends around the same time that showed me how to use it properly. We had regular sauna sessions together and I came to realise that the most important benefit of going to the sauna was simply getting to know people better and developing friendships. We can talk endlessly about the physical health benefits of the sauna, but one of the biggest problems in this world right now is actually loneliness, and that affects everything from our happiness to social cohesion. Sauna is one way we can cure it.

I've never been in a traditional sauna, but I can understand how it could connect people. Because it would be a poor place to bring cell phones, it could encourage people to simply sit and talk to other humans.

I'm an evangelist for tabletop role-playing games because, among other benefits, it's an ideal social activity for developing friendships among several people. And, unlike saunas, there's no nudity involved. I mean, I love my role-playing game friends, but I absolutely do not want to see them naked.

-via Marilyn Terrell | Photo: Taavi Randmaa


Creepy Purses Are the Right Look for You

Breanne Cremean offers many unique handbags and dice bags like this one in her Etsy shop. She calls them Creature Clutches. With eyeballs, mouths, and fangs, they create, if not the right impression, then an accurate one for you. Some people may eschew conversation if you carry one, but that's a helpful sorting tool in its own way.

-via Geekologie


A Plane Powered by an Electric Drill

What insane thing will Peter Sripol make next? When we last checked in, he attached a flamethrower to a Thomas the Tank Engine mecha. His most recent project was to build a functional model airplane powered with a cordless drill motor.

It was a big challenge. A drill and battery are heavy and the RPM is very low. But Peter's friends tolerated him long enough to make it work. The biggest challenge was getting their CNC mill to correctly cut a wooden propeller. And the end of the project, they ended up with a remarkably maneuverable aircraft.

-via Hack A Day


Firefighters Calm Frightened Child by Letting Her Paint Their Fingernails

Firefighters in West Point, Utah arrived at the scene of a car accident. A child who was in the car was unhurt, but very scared. To help her feel calm and safe, they asked her to paint their fingernails. She selected a purple polish from her supply and went to work. The North Davis Fire District reports:

Within minutes, the child was calmly paining their nails and had forgotten about the accident she had just experienced.

-via Dave Barry | Photo: North Davis Fire District


The Mosely Folding Bathtub

It's like a Murphy bed in bathtub form!

In 1895, the Mosely Folding Bath Company advertised this unique piece of furniture in the Montgomery Ward mail order catalog. It's a semi-portable bathtub that folded upward into a mirrored vanity. The National Museum of American History describes it:

This tub, disguised as a mirrored wardrobe, folded down and out of its wood casing into the room, revealing the heater above.
This was similar to Bruschke & Ricke’s combined sofa and bathtub of the same period. The sofa’s bolster concealed a water tank and heater, while the seat unfolded to reveal a bathtub. Often, large rubber aprons protected the wood or carpeted floor. Accounts of igniting sofas and burned bathers dampened the product’s appeal. Since neither bathtub attached to plumbing nor pipes, used bath water drained into a basin and then required emptying.

A few of these clever inventions still exist and can be purchased at auction.

-via Messy Nessy Chic | Photos: Tiny House Blog


Expert Paraglider Smoothly Lands Seated into a Couch

By precisely adjusting the lines on his paraglider, this pilot smoothly lands onto a couch in a seated position.

Staying seated requires some effort, as the wind continues to pull on the wing.

-via Geekologie


UNO Cards Now Available in Braille

Mattel now offers its famous card game in a format accessible to the visually impaired. The company is now selling decks in which the numbers and colors have been marked in Braille script on the corners. From the press release:

“UNO Braille is doing more than making this beloved game more accessible. It’s also helping promote the importance and normalcy of braille by putting it in places people might not expect, and integrating it into the play of blind children,” said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. “The fact that a blind person is now able to play a classic game of UNO straight out of the box with both blind and sighted friends or family members is a truly meaningful moment for our community. I look forward to enjoying UNO Braille with my own family and I know that blind people across the nation will embrace this important and exciting step toward more inclusion and accessibility.”

-via Design Boom


This Artist Makes Astonishingly Realistic (And Creepy!) Animal Handbags and Accessories

Amanojaku to Hesomagari explains that:

Before becoming an artist, I studied cognitive neuropsychology at graduate school . . . There are so many unknown animals in the world. And there are many animals that are hated unfairly, too. Through my work, I am trying to show people how charming they are.

He's definitely accomplishing that! And his bags certainly attention grabbing. You can see 33 other animal bags at Bored Panda, including a coelacanth, a flea, and a flying squirrel.

-via Design You Trust


4 Amazing Custom Transformers by Spoonman

The excellent geekery blog Geek Tyrant introduced me to the work of Spoonman, a custom toy maker, with this Optimus Prime who transforms into an AT-AT. It's called "AT-ATIMUS."

I was initially going to just post about that transformer, but as I scrolled through Spoonman's Facebook gallery, I saw more and more amazing custom Transformers by him/her.

Continue reading

Ronald McPennywise Cosplay

South African cosplayer Kelsey Atkins (@JinxKittie) offers us a terrifyingly Unhappy Meal at the new fast food restaurant in Derry, Maine. Are you lovin' It? Then follow her into the storm drain to SuperSize your selection.


For the First Time in Recorded History, A Person Has Run a Marathon in under 2 Hours

They said that it was impossible, but Eliud Kipchoge rose to this superhuman challenge. This Kenyan master athlete ran a marathon in under 2 hours. His final time through the streets of Vienna was 1:59:40. CNN quotes him:

"I am the happiest man," Kipchoge said after the unofficial two-hour marathon, adding that he hopes to have inspired many that "no human is limited."

Kipchoge ran under carefully controlled conditions, including a pace car that shined a green laser on the pavement in front of him to help him keep at the speed necessary to break the 2-hour barrier.

As a result of these special aids, he may not receive an official title from the International Association of Athletic Federations. But the world will hail him as the man who broke the 2-hour barrier.

-via Aelfred the Great | Photo: CNN


Wildlife Officials Warn Public to Kill "Land-Dwelling" Fish on Sight

The Asian snakehead fish is an invasive species from China that can grow up to 3 feet long and survive for days at a time on land. They're on the loose in Georgia. Wildlife officials urge members of the public to immediately kill them. You can't afford to wait. The New York Post reports:

An angler’s report allowed them to “confirm the presence,” after identifying the fish’s mottled brown coloring, a dorsal fin traversing the back and the serpentine noggin from which the fish takes its name. [...]
Even scarier, these serpentine swimmers can breathe air — allowing them to exist on land for days at a time.
To combat the invasion, Georgia’s Wildlife Resources Division posted a notice on their Facebook page, urging fishers to “immediately kill and freeze any suspected snakeheads, as well as snap photos of their quarry.”

I won't have to be warned twice. I just hope my .458 is heavy enough for the job.

-via Dave Barry | Photo: US Geological Survey


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