I was thinking about this just the other day. I decided the best thing to do would be to say nothing at all, then Randall Munroe of xkcd went and ruined it. Link
Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
The Honeywell Ademco 944WH-M Magnet is on sale at Amazon for the bargain basement price of $131,299,998.69! But you'd better hurry to snap up this bargain, because there's only three left in stock. You have to wonder how many were sold at the original price of $158,599,998.99. It's possible that only particle physicists with the backing of global supervillains would have use for this. But there are some glowing (and no-so-glowing) customer reviews.
I have been looking at this magnet for a while, but could no longer pass it up after the 17% discount. My personal space program will just have to wait.
I deducted two stars for ineffective packaging, as the UPS delivery driver could not get it loose from the side of his truck. They eventually had to just cut the side out of the truck. causing me to have to pay for repairs. On the upside, I now have a 1' by 1' square piece of UPS truck, which I use for a night stand.
Oh, also, when I set the box on my kitchen table, it pulled my fridge across the room, my car from my driveway, and the collar and tags from my neighbor's Cocker Spaniel. It compressed all of these into a Higgs Boson.
Shipping and handling is an extra $6.95. On the bright side, I hear it cures cancer. Link -via b3ta
From the website Aish.com, here's Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" with new lyrics for Rosh Hashanah, written and sung by Menachem Herman. The Jewish New Year celebration begins Wednesday evening. -via Buzzfeed
The second Internet Cat Video Festival was held this week at the Minnesota State Fair, and a good time was had by all. The highlight of the event was the meeting between Lil Bub and Grumpy Cat. The top honor of the festival, the Golden Kitty Award, was bestowed on Tard, also known as Grumpy Cat. Last year's winner was Henri, le Chat Noir.
Elsewhere at the festival, seven “celebricats” were inducted into a “Hall of Fame”: Keyboard Cat, Nyan Cat, Henri Le Chat Noir, Kittens Inspired by Kittens, Maru, Boots and Cats, and Lil Bub, a toothless litter runt whose documentary aired at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the more than 10,000 fans who turned out seemed more excited to be there than the cats. Some held up cat masquerade masks on sticks, while others painted their faces to look like jungle cats – and even Grumpy Cat. One woman wore a leopard print tunic and cat ear headband, while another sported white leggings with rainbow-colored cat faces. According to the Star Tribune‘s live blog, there were cardboard cutouts of cats everywhere, Grumpy Cat crop art, and people dressed in cat onesies.
You can see a video report on the festival at Time Newsfeed. Link
(Image credit: PR Guitarman)
James Jamerson was one of the most influential bass players in American pop music. He played on many of Motown biggest hits, usually uncredited. In this video, his recreated bass line from Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life" is examined visually.
Wonder’s version of the track is often singled out by bassists as the greatest example of James Jamerson’s playing style, with no two bars of music played alike during the whole song; a completely improvisational line that is both melodic and complementary to Wonder’s vocal.
Hearing it to enjoy it; but seeing it is to be really impressed. Link -via Metafilter
Thank you for joining us on this Labor Day weekend! Monday is the holiday set aside to recognize the workers that made America great. Generally it has come to symbolize the end of summer, and many schools start their year after Labor Day (my kids have been in school four weeks already). Whether you celebrate with a picnic, parade, family gatherings, or just kicking back and watching movies, you should have some time to catch up on everything that's been going on here at Neatorama.
Alex posted the 10 Most EPIC Photos from Red Bull Illume 2013 on the Neatorama Spotlight blog.
Eddie Deezen wrote about Elvis Presley in Viva Las Vegas.
Pottering About Bezoars was from The Annals of Improbable Research.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader gave us the story of The Great Boston Fire.
The Cheese Doctor is In came from mental_floss magazine.
Don't you miss out on our regular columns, either, like Questions in Need of Answers. This week, David Israel asked What Blogs Are Worth Bookmarking? We got some really good suggestions!
Hy Conrad was back with another Whodunit, called The Poker from Nowhere.
We had one BRI list this week, Beauty Secrets from the Good Old Days.
In this week's What Is It? game, the mystery object is a tool for binding corn shocks. Read more about it at the What Is It? blog. But we were looking for funny answers this week. Ewach said it was obviously a narwhal prosthesis. Ladybugs said they are "whatsits and dinglehoppers from Ariel's collection. Or at least that's what she tells Flounder, Sebastian, & Scuttle. Ariel doesn't want them to know those are actually spear guns." Ha! Those are both worth a t-shirt from the NeatoShop. Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who entered, and thanks to the What Is It? blog.
The post with the most comments this week was Questions In Need of Answers - No. 7: What Blogs Are Worth Bookmarking? Coming in second was "If You Want the American Dream, Go To Finland" and Hey Girl by Edison came in third place. Those threads are still open if you want to contribute your two cents worth.
The comment of the week was when Toyvo Bassman Nachesa reacted to the post Who Will Ascend to the Keyboard Throne by saying, "Game of Thrones? Nah, Throne of Games."
The most popular post was Japan World Cup 3. Following was I Forgot My Phone and Meet The World's Oldest and Largest Wombat.
The most ♥ed post was Awesome Dad Hacks Wheelchair So That His Son Can Control It. In second place was Love Song Written by a 96-Year Old Man to Honor His Wife of 72 Years, and Couple, Married for 66 Years, Died Hours Apart in "Final Act of Love" was third.
And the most emailed post this week was Love Song Written by a 96-Year Old Man to Honor His Wife of 72 Years, followed by Ponies Chillaxin' at the Beach and Meet The World's Oldest and Largest Wombat.
It's easy to share our posts on social networking sites with just a click. There's a row of buttons that appears at the bottom of individual posts to help you share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, G+, as well as email. I took at look at those stats this week.
The posts that produced the most likes on Facebook were Love Song Written by a 96-Year Old Man to Honor His Wife of 72 Years and Breakfast Bacon Taco.
The most shares on G+ went to Meet The World's Oldest and Largest Wombat and Skulls Made from Vinyl Records.
And Meet The World's Oldest and Largest Wombat and Love Song Written by a 96-Year Old Man to Honor His Wife of 72 Years were the most-Tweeted posts.
Coming up this week, we have not only Labor Day on Monday, but also Rosh Hashanah beginning Wednesday. Happy New Year! Also, I'm looking for the perfect opportunity to make fun of Texas in retaliation for one of John's posts. Holidays or not, Neatorama will have new stuff for you to enjoy every day, around the clock!
Simon Tofield shows us how to draw the hedgehog from his Simon's Cat cartoons. He makes it look so easy! I kept expecting the cat to walk in and demand attention, but that doesn't happen in this video. I bet he's busy plotting his revenge. -via Tastefully Offensive
The world's oldest continuous "social settlement" is der Fuggerei in Augsburg, Germany. It was established 1521 by Jakob Fugger, a wealthy banker, merchant, and mining investor, to house the needy. The rent is the same as it was then, one Rhenish Guilder, which is less than one euro. Per year. The 67 houses of Fuggerei hold 140 apartments, with 150 residents. The neighborhood is a gated community, so to speak, with enclosed walls, its own church, and a museum. It is still supported by the Fugger Foundation, through returns on its investments over almost 500 years, supplemented by admission to the enclave and museum, which costs 4 euros. Link -Thanks, Bill Badrick!
(Image credit: context medien und verlag Augsburg)
You've probably heard of "Stockholm Syndrome," in which a hostage begins to sympathize with his or her captor, such as in stories about the Patty Hearst case. But where did the syndrome get its name? From a case of bank robbery in Sweden a year before Hearst was kidnapped.
The whole thing went down over a period of six days, from August 23 through August 28, 1973. On the first day, Jan-Erik Olsson strolled into Kreditbanken in central Stockholm, Sweden, and single-handedly held the place up. Of the two policemen who responded to the call, Olsson shot one in the hand and made the other sit in a chair, ordering him to sing something. (The policeman chose “Lonesome Cowboy,” in case you’re interested.) Olsson then took four hostages and started making demands: He wanted his friend and expert bank robber Clark Olofsson brought to the bank. He wanted 3 million Swedish Kronor. And he wanted a couple of guns, some bulletproof vests, some helmets, and a fast car.
Over those six days, the hostages came around to trusting the bank robbers more than the police. Read the rest of the story at mental_floss. Link
(Image credit: BBC)
Us vs. Th3m, the folks who brought us the maddening quiz You Can't Write Proper English Under Pressure, have another quiz to test your speed and concentration called You Can't Do Geography Under Pressure. It goes pretty fast! Think you're good? Try it out and let us know how you did. Continue reading to see how I did. Link -via b3ta
It all makes sense now. The VMAs are held in August in order to influence the trendy Halloween costumes of the year! Forget Lady Gaga's outfit -that would take more than two months of serious workouts to pull off. On the other hand, Miley Cyrus was apparently going for comedy. In this video, David Correos shows you how you can recreate her look. He looks the part, but needs more practice with the tongue. His went back in mouth occasionally. -via Daily of the Day
The Humane Society of the United States held an art competition for chimpanzees. The winner was announced yesterday. Brent, a 37-year-old retired laboratory chimp who lives at Chimp Haven in Louisiana, won the top prize: $10,000 for his sanctuary!
A Chimp Haven spokeswoman said Brent was unavailable for comment Thursday. “I think he’s asleep,” Ashley Gordon said.
Brent has his own unique painting technique. He only paints with his tongue. Chimp Haven's president Cathy Willis Spraetz, says the chimps paint canvases that are held outside their enclosures.
Some other chimps use brushes or point to the colors they want on the canvas, but Brent comes up to smush pre-applied blobs of child-safe tempera paints with his tongue, she said.
“If we handed the canvas to them where it was on the inside, they might not want to hand it back,” she said. “They might throw it around and step on it.”
Cheetah, from Save the Chimps in Fort Pierce, Florida, won the second place prize of $5,000 -and an additional $5,000 as the winner of Jane Goodall's personal choice award. Link -via Fortean Times
See all the submitted artworks at the Humane Society. Link
(Image credit: Brent/Human Society of the United States)
J.B. Cada and Stephanie Santos of the Regali Kitchen made this Doctor Who cake for Jolly on his birthday. It's a a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting (I'm sold right there) and edible characters. Notice the Weeping Angel is shown both covered and uncovered. Link -via Geeks Are Sexy
Ethan Schlussler has a treehouse 30 feet up. To get to it, he constructed an elevator out of a bicycle and a pulley system. Sweet! -via Tastefully Offensive
Facebook is selling its own nail polish. The color "Social Butterfly Blue" is available at the "campus store" at Facebook's Menlo Park, California, headquarters. In other news, Facebook's headquarters has its own store. The Facebook logo does not appear on the bottle, but since it is only sold in one store and in one color, we know who's responsible. No, you cannot order it online. Link -via Jezebel
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