There are perks to enforcing the law in one of the most lavishly ostentatious cities in the world. The Dubai Police Department showing off their new patrol car, a Lamborghini Aventador that can do over 200 mph! The new car joins a squad that includes a BMW, a few American muscles cars, and several Lamborghini Gallardos. Link
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C.G.P. Grey explains Vatican City in just a few minutes -which is a quick overview, because the smallest country in the world is apparently the most complicated. Or at least very odd when compared to other nations. -via Viral Viral Videos
See more videos from C.G.P. Grey.
The TV series Firefly aired for only four months in the 2002-2003 season. But it left behind many devoted fans. In one episode, the character Jayne Cobb received a gift of a knitted hat. It was shown for only a few minutes on that one episode, but the hat became a symbol for the fans, and many wanted one just like it. As 20th Century Fox Television had cancelled the show, they did not market merchandise from the series, and so knitters stepped in to fill the demand. Then in December of 2012, Think Geek began selling an officially-licensed Jayne Hat. One thing led to another, and Fox TV started sending cease and desist orders to Etsy crafters, some who had been selling the hats for years.
"When I first got the cease and desist, I felt like I'd been thrown out of an airlock," said Angela of Ma Cobbe's Shoppe, who had been selling Jayne hats on Etsy for almost five years.
"I've seen some copyright infringement on Etsy, but I always thought that the hat was something of my own. Yes, it's inspired by a hat worn by a character in a show that is the intellectual property of Fox, but each independent hand-knitting seller puts their own spin on it. They write up their own patterns with subtle shifts in color and design to appeal to everyone."
"The irony of it is that it's the fans of the show who have propelled the hat into the iconic symbol that it is. The hat itself had only a few measly minutes of screen time in one episode-- an episode that Fox didn't even air."
The entire story and the controversy on the internet is explained at Buzzfeed. Link
Some Etsy sellers are striking back by re-labeling their wares. Link
(Image credit: Goddess Vicky)
The classical Japanese geisha of the Meiji period are said to have been "shrouded in mystery," but there was at least one geisha who made the news often and became quite famous. Teruha went by several names at different points in her life, and was also called "the Nine-Fingered Geisha." How she got that title was just one episode in a life that included many heartbreaks, scandals, and turnarounds. Read about Teruha at Environmental Graffiti. Link
5m80 is a short film by Nicolas Devaux, about the ridiculous things that giraffes do for fun and sport. The number refers to the average height of a giraffe, which is about 19 feet. -via the Presurfer
Is this a world record? I don't even want to know! An abandoned house in San Sebastián de la Gomera, Spain, was investigated by police after calls from neighbors. Inside, they found a wasp nest that almost filled a room!
Experts have examined the nest, which is said to be 21'9” in length, and say the common type of wasp found in gardens would never normally build a nest of this size.
They believe it must be an invasive species of wasp which had migrated from Africa.
The Canary Islands are less than 100 kilometres from Morocco by water.
You can almost imagine the wasps, finding that this was the most wonderful place for a nest ever because no one bothered them and it never rained, and then deciding that they'd never leave to build new nests. Link -via Arbroath
South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp made a name for himself with a short film called Alive in Joburg which became the 2009 blockbuster District 9. Blomkamp's new film Elysium also illustrates political ideas in a science fiction world by pitting the 99% against the 1%. And Jodie Foster is the bad guy! The plot, from Wikipedia:
In the year 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on Elysium – a Stanford torus space habitat in Earth orbit – and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the planet’s crime and poverty, and they critically need the state-of-the-art medical care available on Elysium – but some in Elysium will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve their citizens’ luxurious lifestyle. The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max Da Costa, an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s mayor, Secretary Jessica Delacourt and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.
The movie is scheduled to be released August 9. -via Geeks Are Sexy
Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal has written a comic essay on Why the Mantis Shrimp is My New Favorite Animal. The picture here is an idealistic view of this strange creature, and not to be confused with the truth. And truth is stranger than fiction, as you'll find out. With bonus videos. Link
Any time you want to add to a child's reading experience, whether the child is yours or someone else's, a book from this list will be much appreciated. I counted 13 that I had as a child; most of the others weren't written that long ago. Check out the reasoning behind all 25 at Flavorwire. Link
Gabrielle Rogers and Stefan Auer build ships in bottles the old-fashioned way (and if you don't know how it's done, you'll be amazed to find out). They got a request to build the boat from the 1975 movie Jaws in a bottle, and they did, complete with shark!
The amount of details makes all the difference when an artist is tyring to bring to life a scene like this one. A miniature fishing rod is made of a needle. Miniscule hoops (watch washers) act as the eyes, which the slender thread actually passes through. The reel is a gear from a watch.
If there are people, the must be directed to a task. The personna holding the bucket represents Quint (the shark hunter). He will be handing a bucket of chum. Brody (the police chief) holds the rifle and will be taking aim at the shark before its final moments. Hooper (oceanographer) bravely takes to what he calls the shark proof cage in an attempt to stab the animal.
See how it was constructed step-by-step, with pictures. The finished bottle is just wonderful! Link -via Metafilter
When Brandon married Mandy, his brother couldn't be there because he was busy at work. So he turned his dashcam around and recorded a greeting from the cockpit of his Harrier jet -and even did a roll in honor of the occasion! When this was played at the wedding, there was not a dry eye in the house. -via Viral Viral Videos
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
The story of TV's first-ever interracial kiss is actually one of the medium's biggest urban legends. Most believe it occurred on Star Trek in 1968. The common belief is that the first kiss between an African-American and a Caucasian happened in a third season Star Trek episode called "Plato's Stepchildren." Before I correct the common misconception, I will fill you in on the details of the Star Trek kiss, which is historic in its own right.
The "Plato's Stepchildren" episode involved the crew of the starship Enterprise being made into unwilling slaves, the condition being enforced by the "superior" beings called Platonians who have the power of telekinesis, which they employed to make the crew behave as their masters desired. William Shatner (Captain Kirk) and Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) are thereby "forced" to kiss.
The telekinesis made it easier for NBC to explain the kiss, as in the big scene Captain Kirk is forced to kiss the African-American Uhura against his will. Shatner, in his inimitable manner, emotes, "I-won't-kiss-you! I-won't-kiss-you!" But because of the great counter-effort, the kiss does, indeed, take place.
William Shatner, in his book Star Trek Memories, insists that he and actress Nichols never actually kissed during the scene; he maintains that their lips never touched. However, Nichols positively declares that they did lock lips. It seems incredible that such a major event is not more clearly recalled, as obviously either Shatner or Nichols is mistaken. The kiss itself is obscured by the back of Nichols' head, so we, the viewers, can't tell who is right.
Sillof, the master of custom action figures (previously at Neatorama), has a new gender-swapped pop culture-mashup collection called Faster, Empire! Strike! Strike! commissioned by comedian Patton Oswalt. Here's the idea:
It’s the Star Wars universe as interpreted by Russ Meyer. Busty, pneumatic amazons in all of the male roles, with one Li’l Abner-stlye lunkhead in the Princess Leia role. Cars and liquor and 60’s-style garage rock. And, except for a couple of names and character ideas (I came up with “Darla Vade” and insisted she be modeled after the immortal Tura Satana) Sillof came up with the whole story, and all of the other characters. A film buff as well as a craftsman, this man.
Sillof not only created the figures, but also a personality for each of them. In the band shown here, you see Hanna "Guitar" Solo, Darla Vade, and Lanna Calloway playing together based on the all-girl band in the Russ Meyer film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. See all the figures (yes, there's the one guy) and accessories, too, at his site. Link
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
The Beatles are the most talked about, written about, discussed, analyzed, and dissected group in the history of music. Almost all of the Beatles' songs are liked by some segment of Beatle fans. The actual "most popular" Beatles song is up for grabs. Various polls on the subject have been conducted, with diverse results.
Some like the love songs, some like the hard rock, some like "John songs," some prefer the "Paul songs," some like the later, freakier stuff, and some like the simplicity of the early stuff. But always, in every poll on the subject ever taken, one song stands out, alone and undisputed, as the "least popular" Beatles song of all-time.
It's hard to actually call "Revolution 9" a song at all. It's more of a patchwork of sounds, fragments, clips, odd instruments, disjointed voices, tape loops, a weird, eerie collage of what John Lennon and his then-girlfriend called "avant-garde" art (?) and music (?). "Revolution 9" is the penultimate song on the Beatles' otherwise brilliant and eclectic masterpiece of music The Beatles, otherwise known as "the White Album."
The Beatles (the White Album) was the band's 10th album consisting of 30 songs. Although protests came from various quarters about including "Revolution 9" on the album, John remained proud of his strange concoction, proclaiming, "This is the music of the future. You can forget about the rest of the s**t we've done. This is it! Everybody will be making this stuff one day!"
Lennon was no Nostradamus.
W00t! It's time for another collaboration with the ever-excellent What Is It? Blog. Can you guess what this odd item is used for?
Place your guess in the comment section. One guess per comment, though you can enter as many guesses as you'd like. Please do not post any web link or URL - doing so will void your entry. You have until the answer is revealed on the What Is It? Blog tomorrow.
Two prizes: the first correct guess and the funniest yet wrong one will win a T-Shirt from the NeatoShop.
IMPORTANT: Please write your prize selection alongside your guess, so visit the NeatoShop and take a look around. If you don't write your prize selection, then you don't get the prize. I think you'll like the selection of funny t-shirts and science t-shirts -or even t-shirts of your favorite blogs and websites.
See another picture of this object at the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!
Update: this is a traveler, or tire measuring wheel, according to the Dictionary of American Hand Tools it was used to measure the length of flat strap required for making a new wagon tire, further explaned at the What Is It? blog. The first correct answer came from Berhard, who wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! The funniest answer came from Rodney McDonald, who said it is "a moral compass with a handy grip!" That's good enough for a t-shirt, too! Congratulations, and thanks to everyone who played this week.
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