Australian baker Branka Njegich baked a few cakes and fashioned them into exact replicas of Kentucky Fried Chicken products. The only part of this spread that isn’t edible are the boxes and the soda can. These savory foods are made of sweet cake, fondant, buttercream frosting, and candy. The corn on the cob is made of jellybeans and melted Starburst candies. See more of Njegich's clever cake creations at Instagram. -via Buzzfeed
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Michael Moran is a 17-year-old from Liverpool who once aspired to be a boxer. He gave that up to pursue a career in acting, and landed a job advertising Pot Noodles. The theme of the campaign is “You Can Make It,” and the ad focuses on a young man working too make his dreams come true.
The UK TV ad became so popular so fast that Moran got the chance to recreate it in real life at a boxing match Saturday night. Now he’s signing autographs for his acting abilities, which is safer than boxing, you know. -via Boing Boing
The following is a Whodunit by Hy Conrad. These mysteries are from The Little Giant® Book of Whodunits by Hy Conrad and Matt LaFleur. Can you solve the mystery before you read the solution?
(Image credit: Ecuapromo)
During a storm at sea, millionaire art lover C. Michael Ekshun popped out on the deck of his luxurious yacht. He didn't hear a thing as his killer sneaked up behind him, brandishing a deadly sharp letter opener. Moments after the murder, his body was pushed overboard, disappearing into the swirling foam.
When the skies cleared and the yacht pulled into harbor, police questioned the three surviving passengers: Michael's stylishly dressed wife, Sprinkle Ekshun; his secretary, Morey Fishant; and a shifty-eyed art dealer named Count Yuri Ceets. Each suspect had an alibi.
"I was in the lounge, doing my nails," Sprinkle told them. The widow stuffed her hands into the pockets of her Dior dressing gown. The police immediately noticed a wet patch on her robe front. In the middle of the wet patch was a stubborn red stain that had refused to come out.
"I was in my cabin writing," Count Yuri said as he showed the police a neatly written five-page letter, all in Russian. "To my dear mother, the Countess," he explained. A translation of the letter proved that Yuri had indeed written to his mother—a cleaning lady living in Bensonhurst.
The following is a Whodunit by Hy Conrad. These mysteries are from The Little Giant® Book of Whodunits by Hy Conrad and Matt LaFleur. Can you solve the mystery before you read the solution?
Preparations were all in place for the Peace Treaty Summit. Nary a twig was out of place in the secluded, wooded retreat. The service staff had been cleared by security. And the entire compound was off-limits to motor vehicles until the dignitaries started arriving in their limousines.
Security Chief Derrick Gerber was making a final tour on his bicycle. What if an assassin had somehow managed to get in? Gerber's suspicious mind focused on one of the newly hired staff. He decided to run another check.
An hour later, Gerber's body was discovered in a ravine. Gil Abel, the security chief's assistant, was immediately notified.
Abel cycled up the main road, noting with irritation a shaggy black piece of bloody road kill along the shoulder, being toyed with by a kitchen cat. Twenty yards later, he was at the ravine. Gerber had put up quite a struggle before succumbing to a flurry of stab wounds. "I've had my own suspicions," Abel mumbled to himself. "I suppose it's time to check them out."
The following is a Whodunit by Hy Conrad. These mysteries are from The Little Giant® Book of Whodunits by Hy Conrad and Matt LaFleur. Can you solve the mystery before you read the solution?
(Image credit: Tony Webster)
It was a cloudy Sunday, with the skies threatening rain all morning and showers anticipated in the afternoon. So Detective Wilson didn't really mind when he was called in to work.
A tourist had gotten himself lost in an industrial section of town. At the very end of a dead-end alley, the poor visitor came across the body of Vinny the Fish, a stoolie who'd been supplying Detective Wilson with information on several ongoing mob investigations.
"Both kneecaps busted," the on-scene officer said as he pointed to the corpse crumpled up against the blank wall. "Chest cavity was crushed in, too. We'll know more when the medical examiner arrives."
Wilson didn't wait for the M.E. Instead, he looked up the addresses of three of Vinny's associates and drove off to see them. Someone had found out about Vinny's cooperation. Wilson felt he owed it to the stoolie to find his killer.
The following is a Whodunit by Hy Conrad. These mysteries are from The Little Giant® Book of Whodunits by Hy Conrad and Matt LaFleur. Can you solve the mystery before you read the solution?
(Image credit: Keanu @ no:wp)
All evidence pointed to Frank Fortini. "He has motive," the homicide chief told his men. "Frank's Uncle Gregor, the victim, just won the state lottery. Frank and his brothers are Gregor's only relatives and would inherit the $14 million prize.
"Also, Frank had opportunity. Gregor was a paranoid guy living in an isolated cabin. He always kept his doors locked and hated strangers. Since there was no forced entry and no sign of a struggle, we know Gregor was attacked by someone he knew and trusted.
"To top it off, we found direct evidence at the cabin. There were fresh tire tracks, perfectly matching the tires from Frank's mountain bike. And ..." The chief was getting angry. "And we found a ticket from today's lottery near the scene—with Frank's prints on it.
"The only trouble is . . ." The chief pounded the table. "He has an alibi.
The following is a Whodunit by Hy Conrad. These mysteries are from The Little Giant® Book of Whodunits by Hy Conrad and Matt LaFleur. Can you solve the mystery before you read the solution?
(Image credit: Flickr user Neven Mrgan)
Roger Vail was having a bad day. First off, the advertising executive spilled coffee over the back of the roller chair in his redecorated office, resulting in a permanent stain. Then his computer went haywire. With his hard drive gone, Roger had to stay late to complete a report. And to top it off, while he was working late, he was shot three times in the back and killed.
When the cleaning woman entered Roger's office that night, she thought it was empty. The chair back faced her, a virtual wall of beige. Her expert eye quickly noticed the three tiny blemishes on the fabric, three little round holes. She came closer, rolling the chair away from the broken computer and toward the light. Roger Vail's corpse slumped forward, the holes in his back matching the bullet holes pumped into the chair.
Roger's death shocked his colleagues. "Everyone liked him," Joan Jackson sighed the next morning as she watered her flowers. "If there was a murder here, I would have expected . . ." She left it unfinished, piquing the curiosity of the interrogating officer. Blakemore Advertising, it turned out, was a hotbed of seething emotions.
The following is a Whodunit by Hy Conrad. These mysteries are from The Little Giant® Book of Whodunits by Hy Conrad and Matt LaFleur. Can you solve the mystery before you read the solution?
(Image credit: Gregory "Slobirdr" Smith)
It was a beautiful afternoon. Dr. Ben Kramer's guests were roaming his country estate, enjoying themselves—until a series of growls and screams pierced the air. Robert Kelly grabbed a rifle from the den and followed the sounds, only to find the good doctor being mauled by a bear. A shot in the air scared the animal off.
"Go get Ben's medical bag," Jorey Abrams said as he bent over their unconscious host. From Ben's half-filled basket, they could see he'd been gathering wild strawberries.
Ursula Abrams and Rebecca Kelly returned together, having found the bag in their host's bedroom. Ursula, a nurse, took over, administering a vial of smelling salts. It was no use. Seconds later, Ben Kramer convulsed and died.
The local sheriff arrived and was about to call it an accident when he found a note caught on a thorny bush not far from the attack. It looked like a list of reminders.
"Be first to attend BK after attack. Death must look natural. Do everything to avoid autopsy. Seek quick cremation." The sheriff decided to investigate. Handwriting samples were taken from all four of the guests.
The following is a Whodunit by Hy Conrad. These mysteries are from The Little Giant® Book of Whodunits by Hy Conrad and Matt LaFleur. Can you solve the mystery before you read the solution?
(Image credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen)
After the theft of a medieval goblet, collector Felix Cheshire became obsessed with security. He improved his alarm system by installing metallic strips on the rear of all his canvases and other art objects. He didn't even trust his two longtime assistants. His latest precaution was to carry a loaded pistol and a sword hidden inside his walking cane.
As usual, Felix began his day by ushering in his assistants and setting the alarm. He had barely entered the rear research room when the alarm sounded. Grabbing his gun and cane, Felix hobbled up to the entrance and found Tanya Garfield standing by the door, a sheepish grin on her face. "I was just going out for coffee," she apologized. "I guess my earrings set it off."
The collector checked his major possessions, found nothing missing, then reset the alarm. He settled back into the research room and accepted a cup of tea from an earring-less Tanya. Felix had no idea for how long he'd nodded off. But suddenly Jack, his other assistant, was shaking him by the shoulders.
"It's gone," Jack shouted. "The da Vinci's gone."
The following is a Whodunit by Hy Conrad. These mysteries are from The Little Giant® Book of Whodunits by Hy Conrad and Matt LaFleur. Can you solve the mystery before you read the solution?
At some point during the small party, Hazel got tired of dealing with the guests. They all had drinks in hand and seemed perfectly content. So, the maid wandered up the grand staircase to check on the sleeping children and do a little tidying up.
As soon as Hazel walked into her employer's bedroom, her eagle eyes saw that someone had been there. Taking a towel from her apron, she eradicated the quarter-size water ring from a mahogany table. "How many times do I have to tell Ms. Grant to use a coaster?" she asked the empty air. Seconds later, a breeze from an open French window drew her outside. Young Davey's skateboard was on the balcony, right by the railing edge.
"Someone could trip and fall," Hazel said with another disapproving cluck. Instinctively, she peered over the railing and was startled to see her prophecy fulfilled. Her employer, the Broadway star Indira Grant, lay on the flagstone walk, her beautiful neck broken but her cut-crystal water glass still in one piece in her outstretched hand.
Who will take charge after the zombie apocalypse? Who has the skills to save us from the zombie hoard? Why, it’s the internet’s favorite thing: cats!
From Mr.TVCow comes the cutest little guerrilla fighters ever, with a mad plan to save the world from the dangerous zombies! (And to prove once again, that cats are better than humans, at least on video.) -via Metafilter
The following is an article from the book Uncle John's Canoramic Bathroom Reader.
You’ve probably heard of leprechauns and banshees, but how about the other “little people” of the Emerald Isle?
THE POOKA
(Image credit: DeviantART member Skye-Fyre)
In the 1950 film Harvey, the main character, Elwood P. Dowd (played by Jimmy Stewart), consults with a six-foot-tall rabbit that only he can see. He calls the rabbit a pooka, defined in the film as “a fairy spirit in animal form, always very large. The pooka appears here and there, now and then, this one and that one; a benign but mischievous creature, very fond of rum pots, crackpots…” That sounds benign, but in Ireland, a pooka is the most feared of all magical creatures. Pookas appear at night and wreak havoc on farmers. In County Down, legend has it that the pooka transforms itself into a deformed goblin who demands a share of the year’s harvest, which is why many farmers leave a “pooka’s share” of crops still in the field.
But the form a pooka most often assumes is that of a huge black horse with fierce yellow eyes. It roams the countryside, tearing down fences, freeing livestock, and destroying crops. The only man ever to tame the pooka was Brian Boru, the eleventh-century high king of Ireland. According to legend, Boru made the magic horse promise to stop tormenting the farmers and ruining their crops, and never again to attack an Irishman going home…. unless he’s drunk— and then he can give the man a good pounding.
THE CHANGELING
Fairies who give birth to sick or ugly babies may try to swap them with healthy babies from the human world. The bad-tempered child left in its place is called a changeling. Changelings bring bad luck and misery to a human home, crying day and night. The babies most in danger of being switched are those not baptized or those who are oohed and ahhed over because of their beauty.
A changeling looks exactly like the human baby, but somehow seems to be different. They have dark, penetrating eyes that show a wisdom beyond their age. They can develop crippling diseases and live only a few years. Most changelings are boys, which is why, even as recently as 60 years ago, some Irish families would disguise their boys in dresses till they were seven years old, too old to be taken by fairies.
MERROWS
In 1976, Brian DePalma directed a movie version of Stephen King’s first book, and we all watched it and then went home and hid under the covers for a week or so. Those of us of a certain age know the plot of Carrie by heart, but there are a few things that went on behind the scenes that you might not know. For example,
4. KING’S NAME WAS MISSPELLED IN THE TRAILER.
King was such a newcomer at the time of Carrie's release his first name was actually misspelled in the movie's trailer (it was written as Steven, not Stephen).
5. THE STARS OF CARRIE COULD HAVE BEEN THE STARS OF STAR WARS.
Brian De Palma ended up casting for Carrie at the same time his good friend George Lucas was doing the same for a little sci-fi film he was making called Star Wars. So the two made the rather unorthodox decision to hold joint auditions, which ended up becoming a bit confusing. De Palma liked Amy Irving for the lead in Carrie, but she was also considered for Princess Leia in Star Wars. William Katt also auditioned for Star Wars, alongside Kurt Russell.
You can see those auditions, along with plenty of other tidbits about the making of the original Carrie at mental_floss.
This amazing footage shows a lion dog that very much resembles Fritz the golden retriever. Watch him stalk his prey, the elusive soap bubble. Here he encounters a herd of them, to his utter delight! -via Tastefully Offensive
This sport appears to be a combination of trampoline and tightrope walking. The final competitors are Estonia and America. They give it their all as fast as they can to impress the crowd and the judges at the Globetrotter World Slackline Masters meet in Munich.
Who should win? Why do they do this? These guys even fall off with style! -via Digg
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