Internet cat star Colonel Meow (previously at Neatorama) is now going to be enshrined in the Guinness Book of World Records as the cat with the longest fur.

Colonel Meow, age two, is a Himalayan-Persian crossbreed with fur that reaches nine inches long. Meow's fantastically furry features will be part of the newest edition of the 2014 Guinness World Records book, which comes out next month.

Meow calls Los Angeles home, specifically the home he shares with owners Anne Marie Avey and Eric Rosario.

Avey admits while the cat's record-setting fur is something special indeed, it's also kind of a pain in the butt, according to info sent over by Meow's representation. “Literally everything in the house has hair on it, including us! I feel like I’m always vacuuming!” says Avey.

Nine-inch fur? That goes a long way toward explaining the cat's unique appearance. See more pictures of the Colonel and his fur at laist. Link

(Image credit:Guinness World Records)

It may be hard to believe, but some movie buffs are touting the superiority of the VHS tape, to the point of trying to preserve and even resurrect it. The thing is, many movies that were released on VHS have never made the leap to DVDs, and therefore are either hard to find or totally unavailable to many viewers. Collectors Weekly talked to Dan Kinem, director of the documentary Adjust Your Tracking. He talked about how videotape revolutionized the movie industry -and since a large chunk of profit would come from home video, movies started to be designed to fit the format, particularly horror films.  

“Especially for movies that were direct to video or shot on video, viewing them on DVD doesn’t make a lot of sense, because they were originally intended to be viewed on VHS,” continues Kinem. “These are movies that feel too cleaned-up on DVD and Blu-ray, as if they were never meant to look that good. You can see the mistakes they made and the bad makeup and everything. Watching them on VHS is closer to the old drive-in or grindhouse theater, the way the director intended it to look.” For Kinem, Peretic, and many other VHS fans, there’s an authenticity to viewing certain movies on VHS that’s integral to the film experience, no different from the way record fans think certain albums should only be played on vinyl.

Read more about the resurgence of the VHS format in the full interview. Link

Benjamin Wolfe's obsession with mold is going to change cheese making forever. And it's going to be delicious.

(Image credit: Flickr user DJ Mitchell)

In the underground vaults of the Cellars at Jasper Hill, a cheese-aging facility that's part of a farm and creamery in Greensboro, Vermont, the cheese sits on wood or stainless steel racks. Shelved on rows upon rows of wooden towers, bark-encrusted wheels ripen patiently, waiting for their heady aromas and tongue-dazzling flavors to bloom. Just a whiff of the place is enough to make any cheese aficionado's mouth water. But for a fan of microbes, this basement borders on paradise.

"It's so beautiful when you walk in and see mold everywhere," says Benjamin Wolfe, a Harvard University microbiologist who specializes in the study of rotten meats, ripe cheeses, and deadly mushrooms. "Their Cabot cheddar has the most gorgeous Technicolor mold I've ever seen."

Wolfe is easily smitten. "I have a crush on this one fungus," he says. "It makes cheese look like coral!" And although the science might not sound sexy, Wolfe's findings have turned him into a culinary rock star. Cheese makers court him, sending him unsolicited samples for analysis. Chefs beg him to spend time in their kitchens. His enthusiasm for and expertise in microbes that give cheese its flavor make him a guru to any artisan looking for a competitive edge. For his part, Wolfe -who's married to a chef- wants cheese makers to think of microbes as ingredients. "Different strains are like spices," he says. If cheese makers could get a better grip on the science, they could use the microbes as precise instruments, opening up their wares to new palates of flavors. But just adjusting the taste isn't enough for Wolfe; he wants a distinct terroir -fully developed aromas and notes combined with unforgettable textures. Other scientists can worry about building a better mousetrap; Wolfe wants to make a better cheese.

You might think this is a headline from the Onion, but it's from NPR. It's a headline about the Onion, which is 25 years old today! The satirical newspaper started out small, and now has the newspaper, a popular website, and the Onion News Network video series.

Two college students founded the fake news organization, which began as a newspaper in Madison, Wis. "It really started as something very local that was intended mainly to ... sell pizza coupons," Editor-in-Chief Will Tracy tells Morning Edition host Renee Montagne..

It still has that Midwestern touch, he says.

"We still have a lot of Midwesterners writing for us, and I do think that there is a distinctly Midwestern aesthetic and voice to the paper," Tracy says. "It's sort of an unflashy, flat, unpretentious sort of voice that we have."

Part of that regional bent comes through in The Onion's daily-life humor and its stories about "Area Man" (who Tracy says seems to be a Midwesterner).

Read more about growing the Onion at NPR. Link -via Metafilter

Early cartographers often included illustrations or descriptions of sea monsters on their maps, in order to warn explorers of their location. Sometimes the drawings were symbolic, such as a picture of a king riding a fish, to denote who ruled that part of the sea. Others were supposed to be literal monsters, but the pictures were created from descriptions by frightened seafarers, often years after the fact. The image shown here is from around 1230 AD, depicting a whale that sailors mistook for an island.

"In the Indian Ocean there are whales which are so large that they seem to be islands. And sometimes because of the soil they have on them plants grow on their backs. Men crossing the sea sometimes land on these whales, which, when they feel the movement of men on them, hurry down into the depths, and so the men are drowned."

The post at BibliOdyssey is a little different direction from usual in that it has illustrations from a new book, Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps. However, the many illustrations are hundreds of years old, which is right in line with the usual fare. Link

According to the 1991 movie Terminator 2: Judgement Day, August 29th is the day Skynet becomes self-aware. The quote:

The Terminator: The Skynet Funding Bill is passed. The system goes on-line August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.

Sarah Connor: Skynet fights back.

See? In the movie the "history" takes place in 1997. Whew! Disaster averted! Actually, the webcomic xkcd set our minds at ease some time ago. Link

(YouTube link)

It's just too tempting to put the most badass character on cable TV into the most badass show on premium cable. So Jeff Wysaski did just that. Heisenberg can hold his own just fine in Westeros! Contains NSFW language. -via Pleated-Jeans

Four days later, Miley Cyrus's performance with Robin Thicke at the Video Music Awards Sunday night are enshrined in LEGO. Iain Heath, better known on the internet as Ochre Jelly, is turning memes into LEGO sculptures as fast as they go viral. Here's his description:

LEST WE FORGET. Everyone in America will forever remember where they were as they learned of the traumatic events that unfolded in Brooklyn on the evening of August 25th. For those unfortunate enough to witness them in person, we can only pray for their families and hope that they are eventually able to wash off the stink. Meanwhile, the perpetrators of this hideous debacle are still at large. Authorities are looking for a short uncoordinated woman dressed in an outfit described as "totally f***-witted". Her accompises are described as an unconvincing Beetlejuice cosplayer and a troop of insane oversided teddy bears from hell. The remaining shreds of Western culture are reported missing, presumed in tatters.

Link

(YouTube link)

The squirrel who snugs on the rabbit named George is cute enough by itself, but the accompanying dialogue here is priceless. Thanks, but there's no need to go get my camera, because we'd just have to round up the chickens. And I will have to disagree about something having to be "good" to get on YouTube. However, this is definitely good enough to be on Neatorama! -via Arbroath

(YouTube link)

The short version: go outside; it's good for you. AsapSCIENCE explains exactly why. I would add that time in sunshine also helps regulate your sleep, which is one of the many reasons I spend time in the garden whenever I can. -via Geeks Are Sexy

British biologist/comedian Simon Watt is teaming up with the National Science + Engineering Competition to bring attention to endangered species that are not magnificent, cute, or even plain. In fact, they are downright ugly. The Ugly Animal Preservation Society is a campaign to aid conservation efforts for these creatures. Watt has recruited other scientists, comedians, and science comedians for a series of live shows and videos to promote the conservation of the proboscis monkey, the blowfish, the Titicaca 'scrotum' water frog, the greater short-horned lizard, the dromedary jumping slug, the flightless dung beetle, and other ugly animals. Vote for your favorite ugly animal to become the campaign's mascot at the shows or at YouTube.

The Ugly Animal Preservation Society is dedicated to raising the profile of some of Mother Nature’s more aesthetically challenged children.  The panda gets too much attention.

Our society needs a mascot, one to rival the cute and cuddly emblems of many charities and organisations. And so I have gathered a terrific line up of comedians who will each champion a different ugly endangered species and at the end of the evening the audience shall vote for what will become our society’s symbol.

Link -via Treehugger

(Image credit: Simon Watt)

(YouTube link)

Oh, there's a lot of good ones here …and they get funnier as they go along. The sequence that starts at 7:30 had me rolling on the floor (figuratively). -via Laughing Squid

These are 100% real, honest-to-goodness headlines. can you figure out what they were trying to say?

Doctor Testifies in Horse Suit

Complaints About NBA Referees Growing Ugly

Diet of Premature Babies Affects IQ

Oprah, Madonna Talk Marriage

Groom Sues Bride of 4 Mouths

General Eisenhower Flies Back to Front

Airline Travel Safer Despite More Accidents

God Gets a Parking Caution: "No Execeptions" Say Police

Dumped Fish Remains Upset

American Ships Head to Libya

Woman Not Injured By Cookie

Lack of Water Hurts Ice Fishing

L.A. Voters Approve Urban Renewal by Landslide

Lawyer Calls Soul as Witness

Thanks to President Clinton, Staff Sgt. Fruer Now Has a Son

Tortoise Held Hostage as Lobster War Turns Nasty

Diaper Market Bottoms Out

Snow Storms May be Precursor of Winter

Blind Bishop Appointed to See

Ancient Blond Corpses Raise Questions

Lawyers Give Poor Free Legal Advice

California Governor Makes Stand on Dirty Toilets

Reason for More Bear Sightings: More Bears

Cuts Could Hurt Animals

Ban on Soliciting Dead in Trotwood

Nude Scene Done Tastefully in Radio Play

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The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader, a fantastic book by the Bathroom Readers' Institute. The 17th book in this the Bathroom Reader series is filled to the brim with facts, fun, and fascination, including articles about the Origin of Kung Fu, How to Kill a Zombie, Women in Space and more!

Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!

An anagram is when you rearrange the letters in a word or phrase to get a new word or phrase. Sometime the new phrase is a fitting commentary on the original phrase; sometimes it's just funny.

(Image credit: Flickr user yum9me)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA becomes... DINE OUT: TASTE A 'MAC, FRIES.

TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA becomes... HUGE WATER TALE STUNS. END HAD YOU TENSE.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS becomes... THE CON BITES MALE FLESH.

THE AMERICAN DREAM becomes... MEET A DEAR, RICH MAN.

RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED REINDEER becomes... DEPLORED, HE IS THE ODDER RUNNER.

WALTER CRONKITE becomes... NETWORK RECITAL.

THE IRS becomes... THEIRS.

MADAM CURIE becomes... ME? RADIUM ACE.

NEW YORK YANKEES becomes... SNEAKY OWNER KEY.

RICHARD MILHOUSE NIXON becomes... HIS CLIMAX RUINED HONOR.

ROMEO AND JULIET becomes... ONE JILTED AMOUR.

MICKEY AND MINNIE MOUSE becomes... KID MICE MEAN MONEY IN U.S.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION becomes... OH, DO I SEE GDP SHATTERER?

THE PILLSBURY DOUGHBOY becomes... HI! BEHOLD BURLY GUY'S POT!

SLURPEE becomes... REPULSE.

SPAM LUNCHEON MEAT becomes... MEANS CHUM ON PLATE.

This list was reprinted with permission from the Bathroom Institute's book Uncle John's Heavy Duty Bathroom Reader. Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute has published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts.

If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!

Flying can be scary. That's why flight attendants and pilots sometimes try to add a little levity (get it?) to the experience. Here are some actual airplane announcements that readers have sent us.

PREPARING FOR TAKEOFF

"As we prepare for takeoff, please make sure your tray tables and seat backs are fully upright in their least comfortable positions."

"There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only four ways off this airplane."

"Your seat cushions can be used for floatation, and in the event of  an emergency water landing, please take them with our compliments."

"To operate your seatbelt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seatbelt, and if you don`t know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised."

"Should the cabin lose pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the overhead area. Please place the bag over your own mouth and nose before assisting children or adults acting like children."

"Any person caught smoking in the lavatories will be asked to leave the plane immediately."

"We'd also like to remind you to turn off your cellular phones, computers, video games, or any other electronic device that may interfere with the captain's pacemaker."

IN-FLIGHT GUFFAWS FROM THE PILOT

"Mornin', folks. As we leave Dallas, it's warm and the sun is shining. Unfortunately, we're going to New York, where it is cold and rainy. Why in the world y'all wanna go there I really don't know."

"We are pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the business. Sadly, none of them are working this flight."

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our cruising altitude of 30,000 feet, so I am going to switch the seat belt sign off. Feel free to move about as you wish, but please stay inside the plane till we land."

"Once again, I'm turning off the seat belt sign. I think I'll switch to autopilot, too, so I can come back there and visit with you for the rest of the flight."

"Folks, if you were with us last week, we never got around to mentioning that it was National Procrastination Day."

"The weather in San Francisco is 61 degrees with some broken clouds, but they'll try to have them fixed before we arrive."

LANDING AND DE-PLANING

As the plane touched down and was coming to a stop, the pilot's voice came over the loudspeaker: "Whoa, big fella. Whoa!"

"Sorry about that rough landing, folks. I'd just like to assure you that it wasn't the airline's fault, it wasn't the pilot's fault, it wasn't the flight attendants' fault. It was the asphalt!"

"We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal."

"As you exit the plane, please make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses."

"Thank you for flying Business Express. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride."

"Thank you for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of us."

"Last one off the plane has to clean it."

(Image generated at RedKid)

The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Curiously Compelling Bathroom Reader, a fantastic book by the Bathroom Readers' Institute. The 19th book in this fan-favorite series contain such gems like The Greatest Plane that Never Was, Forgotten Robot Milestones, Ancient Beauty Secrets, and more.

Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!