An average of 81 people die by gun every day in the US. The New York Times has a graphic showing the breakdown of those deaths by age, sex, race, and cause. Link -via Exploding Aardvark

13-year-old Morgan Pozgar of Claysburg, Pennsylvania, won the LG National Texting Championship Saturday in New York. Texting Championship? Yes, 250 contestants battled it out for the title and a $25,000 prize. In this competition, spelling and proper punctation is mandatory -no abbreviations allowed. Pozgar sent the message "Supercalifragilisticexpialidoucious! Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious. If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious" to win.

"It's all about the thumbwork," she said. "It's about balance." She said she owed her success to relaxation and deep breathing.

Link -via Arbroath

It takes a lot of licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, but this takes even more! Artists Mai Yamashita and Naoto Kobay created a giant candy the size of a football. They kept licking the candy day after day for about six months, recording their progress on video. You can see the landscape in the background change from winter to summer. This could turn you off candy permanently. Push play or go to YouTube. Found at Swiss Miss -via Grow-A Brain

If you saw these signs on restroom doors, which one would you enter? Read carefully! -via Reddit

If we’ve learned anything from “aliens”, it’s how to market to bored passengers looking out the windows of airplanes. This is from a collection of field art advertising. Link -via Reddit

Food fun for kids! Nippon Ham has a gallery of hot dogs cut into the shapes of flowers and animals, like this little elephant. Click on each picture for instructions, in Japanese, but illustrated. Link -via Web Zen

Australian documentary director Trevor Graham filmed a day in the life of a homeless person in each of six cities: Sydney, New York, Delhi, Tokyo, Jakarta, and London. The resulting stories are broken into many parts (which you can select individually). You may be surprised at the many ways people can find themselves without a home. http://www.abc.net.au/homeless/ -via Metafilter

A message from the World Wildlife Foundation to China. The text on the balloon reads: “Drive one day less and look how much carbon dioxide monoxide you’ll keep out of the air we breathe.” Link -via Dump Trumpet

This looks like it should be in a 50s sci-fi movie about nuclear mutants, but no. It’s a Giant African Snail, which can grow up to 12 inches long! They are illegal in the US, due to their invasive habits. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Say No To Crack

Maze Mania is a wooden fence maze that covers 2.5 acres in Garden City, South Carolina. Inside the maze are several open rooms which offer several exits.

Step up to the counter and check in with the cashier. You will see a posted time in which to get through the maze. Pick up your time card and punch in! Run through the maze to find the cheese and punch your card. Now you keep running through the maze until you find the finish. Once out of the maze you punch out at the counter. If you beat the posted time on your first try, you win a free t-shirt.

http://mazemaniasc.com/wst_page2.html -via J-Walk Blog

Gelli Baff turns a normal bath into a pool of brightly-colored gelatinous goop. Its a powder that holds 400 times its weight in water, similar to the substance used in disposable diapers. A packet of dissolver is included to turn the goop back into water when it’s time to rinse. Link -via the Toy Review

Livejournal user Obelia Medusa built this intricately detailed miniature recreation of Frodo’s hobbit house. You must see the interior closeups! Link to the project in progress. Link to pictures of the final result. -via Grow-A-Brain

Photographer Harry Whittier Frees used no special effects to create his early 20th century versions of LOL cats. He had to be gentle with his subjects, and wait patiently for the perfect moment to snap the pictures. Link to story. Link to more photos. More here. And here. -via Metafilter

Do you remember November, the cat on the treadmill? He seems to have lost his mojo. Just kidding! This is Kosh, a lookalike who does not want to take a walk. Push play or go to Google Video. -via Cool Stuff

English Russia has a collection of intricately-decorated Russian cakes. Yes, this is a cake! Link -via Cynical-C