Todrick Hall produced an an all-singing version of The Wizard of Oz using songs you know and love, featuring the awesome a cappella group Pentatonix. -via Tastefully Offensive
Previously: Cinderfella
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The submissions are in, and now it's time for you to vote on your favorite entry in the Message to Mars contest! There are 12,000 entries, which you can sort by current ranking, by search term, or randomly, and vote on the good ones. The top entries will be sent to Mars with the MAVEN Mission later this year. A few examples:
It's funny, they named
Mars after the God of War
Have a look at Earth
Hi, from the Blue One,
your long time solar neighbor.
We're harmless, mostly.
ABCDE FGHIJK LMNOP QRSTU VWXYZ
IS OUR ENGLISH ALPHABET
USE IT TO WRITE BACK
Let us know which ones you particularly like in the comments. Voting will be open until July 29. Link -Thanks, Skot Armstrong!
The Quaker Oats guy has a name? The cop on the Monopoly board? The Twitter bird? You already knew the names of some of these characters, but I bet you don't know all of them -until John Green tells you in the latest mental_floss video!
It took 12 people eight days to set up 277,275 dominoes. Last Friday, 272,297 of them were toppled at Wilhelm-Lückert Gym in Büdingen, Germany at the Sinners Domino Entertainment event. Anytime you think the show is over, you're wrong, because it goes on the entire ten minutes, with some tense moments (like the aquarium bit). The part at the beginning broke a world record for the most dominoes toppled in a spiral: 55,555 of them! -via Laughing Squid
'Tis Thursday, so you know what it means, Neatoramanauts: it's time for the What Is It? Game, brought to you by the always amusing What Is It? Blog.
What is this thing in the picture? Your guess can win you a free T-shirt of your choice from the NeatoShop. Here's how to play:
Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, but you can enter as many guesses as you'd like in separate comments. Post no URLs or weblinks.
Let's change it up a bit: we'll pick two winners who submit funny (albeit ultimately incorrect) guesses. If you guessed right, then good for ya - but you don't win anything, mmkay?
So, it's up to you, funny people: you have twice the chance of winning that T-shirt now.
Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize. We highly suggest you take a look at the NeatoShop's new selection of Funny T-shirts and Science T-Shirts.
Ready? Go for it! The What Is It? Blog has more pictures, and other mystery items. Good luck!
Update: the picture shows the switch matrix for the old Voice of America towers that were located next to I-75 just north of Cincinnati, Ohio. It's basically a giant switch box for the antennas. Berhard came the closest to getting it right (even though he was trying to just be funny), but this week we wanted funny but wrong answers. One great answer came from tarnation, who explained, "Another superb Wile E. Coyote paint job, that the Road Runner (and probably an Acme truck) will go right on through. Of course Wile E. will then try…" That's worth a t-shirt! Samantha Simons also had a great guess: "It's a giant musical instrument. When you drive through, it makes random sounds like a cow mooing, a bubble popping, and a hedgehog hiccuping. It was originally put in the middle of a city, but the noise disturbed the locals to the point of riots. So they moved it out into country." That sounds like something someone should build! So Samantha wins a t-shirt, too. Thanks to everyone who played -we had a lot of great entries, so you should go read them all. See the answers to all of this week's mystery items at the What Is It? blog.
This table contains spoilers! The HBO series Game of Thrones has so many characters, you need a chart to keep up with them -so Christian Petersen made one, in the form of a periodic table. Characters are divided into clans (by color), and whether they are living or dead (in the fine print). That's the spoilers. And the chart is available to buy at Etsy. Link -via Laughing Squid
With a new royal heir due any minute, C.G.P. Grey explains to us how one would ascend to the British throne, with examples from history. I love how the closed captioning calls them "airs" instead of "heirs." -via Daily of the Day
The Germans moved into the area of what is now Namibia in southwest Africa in 1882, eventually occupying and displacing the Herero people and the Namaqua people, taking their land and their cattle, too. The original residents, whose ancestor had lived there for thousands of years, naturally rebelled.
The Herero Wars lasted until 1907, when the occupied peoples were defeated by General Lothar van Trotha, and forced into the desert, where the vast majority of them– ended up dying of starvation or dehydration.
Germany ruled the area until 1915, after which the surviving Herero women adopted the turn-of-the-century clothing style of the Germans, wearing the long dresses even today. It's a reminder of their former occupation, and a celebration of regaining their land. See more pictures at Death and Taxes. Link
(Image credit: Namibia Tourism)
Well, this is silly, but silly is what comedian Mark Malkoff specializes in. In this video, he finds out what it's like to be a baby in New York City and be carried around in a Baby Bjorn. The carrier is 7-foot-tall actor Grizz Chapman (30 Rock). -Thanks, Mark!
Previously: more from Mark Malkoff.
We all know the basics of the story of Chang and Eng Bunker, the "Siamese Twins" who toured with freak shows in the 1800s, then settled down as farmers and family men until their deaths. But the details of their last years may be a story you've never heard. Financial setbacks during the Civil War and the deaths of two of their children exacerbated Chang's alcoholism. The pair went back out on tour to raise funds, and to seek medical help.
In the last years of their life, with the knowledge that it might reach an end soon, the two became almost obsessed by the idea of a possible separation, dreading the moment when one would have to carry on with his brother’s corpse at his side. Tied up for life, Chang and Eng desired their own deaths. Separately. Sadly, the physician’s answers carried no hopes, as they all advised against severing their cartilaginous link. The procedure would likely result in a tremendous loss of blood and kill them both.
Upon their return to the United States, the situation was almost impossible. Chang had a fit which left him paralyzed and obliged Eng to prop his legs with straps and crutches in order to activate his brother’s legs like a puppeteer. Back in their village, both hopeless and frustrated, Chang and Eng kept having arguments with each other and begged Dr. Hollingsworths, the local physician, to split them apart. Yet a few months after, the same doctor was called down to their house to certify their deaths. On January 17, 1874, Chang left our world first, then Eng did too, three hours later, asking as a last favor that the dead body of his brother be pulled closer to him.
But that wasn't the end of the story. Find out what happened to the twins' bodies, and more, at Atlas Obscura. Link
Jalopnik asked its readers for tips on buying used cars. The best of them have been compiled in a list every inexperienced car buyer should learn. Here's a sample:
Something to look for is a car that was purchased at the dealership where it was originally sold. This means a few things.
1. The customer had a good experience the first time they purchased, good enough that they would come back and do it again.
2. The service records may be available on the vehicle. Contrary to popular belief dealerships do not share service records with each other. The customer might keep them and if they did, that's typically the only way you'll know if the vehicle was taken care of. If the customer returned to the dealer they usually also use them for service.
3. The dealership knows the customer and can answer more detailed questions about the vehicle and how it was used.
A lot of it boils down to "take it slow and do your research," but the details will help a lot. Link -via Digg
The vast majority of the food in your home depends upon a complicated, energy-dependent infrastructure called "the cold chain." Frozen, fresh, refrigerated, or preserved, at some point, getting that food from the point of origin to your table requires cold storage or transport. This is a system that people rarely see, and are barely aware of. An exhibit by Nicola Twilley on this invisible infrastructure called "Perishable: An Exploration of the Refrigerated Landscape of America" gives us a glimpse of the refrigerated landscape of the food-processing world. Link -via the Atlantic
(Image credit: Center for Land Use Interpretation)
Spencer Timme hears the question frequently, and answered with a video. His older brother Mitchel is his best friend. The song is "Always Gold" by Radical Face. But not the one we are supposed to guess. -via Viral Viral Videos
Doc Holliday is most famous for his friendship with gunslinger Wyatt Earp and for his participation in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. But he was also a dentist, having earned a degree from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. He practiced in various places in the American West, earning little as his patients were wary of the dentist's tuberculosis. Holiday opened a saloon in Las Vegas in 1879. Now a dentist chair found in Las Vegas and inscribed with the name John Holliday is up for auction.
The oak and leather mounted dental chair of Doc Holliday and associated equipment. Accompanied by a framed letter on Baker Gulch Mining Co., Las Vegas, Nevada stationary dated Oct 20, 1908. Statement of Donation: "When I rented my office above the apothecary on the Plaza, I removed a dental chair to make room for my own furnishings.I later noticed the name John Holliday on this chair. .........I now have learned that this is the same John Holliday, the famous shootist of a few years prior....I have also been informed that this was the last location that he practiced dentistry. I give this chair to the city free of charge in hope that a display of archives or a museum may use this infamous artifact. To this I affix my signature and seal. "
Well, maybe a museum will buy it. At the time of this writing, the bids are up to $2,000. Link -via Boing Boing
Paper dolls date from the 18th century, beginning as political satire and swiftly earning their fashion paper clothing. With the invention of lithograph printing, they went mainstream, and were even made for children to play with. The variety of paper dolls was endless.
For many collectors, artistry isn’t the only draw—it’s the ghost of a paper doll’s previous owner that makes the vintage objects so appealing. Whether from 20 or 200 years ago, the personalities of these little girls and boys are particularly strong in handmade paper dolls, often constructed by children whose parents couldn’t afford to purchase toys.
A common variety of handmade paper dolls are “catalog dolls,” made from discarded department-store catalogs, like the ubiquitous tomes from Sears, Roebuck & Co. Children would carefully cut around a model, and then find various items of clothing that best aligned with the illustrated or photographed model’s limbs.
Other kids traced images from books, or created drawings entirely from their own imaginations. “The best is when you find a paper doll where the child made her own clothes for it, or actually created her own doll,” says Ocasio. “Some of those handmade dolls are so exquisitely done, they’re in the realm of folk art.”
Paper dolls changed over time to reflect the world as it was. Old paper dolls may not come with provenance telling who owned them, but you can often tell the era by the clothing they wore. Read about paper dolls through history at Collectors Weekly. Link
(Image credit: Linda Ocasio)
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