If a TV show is so bad that it is cancelled after one episode, you have to wonder how it ever got that far. Here's a sampling:
7. Co-Ed Fever (1979)
The CBS sitcom attempted to capture the success of Animal House but failed to attract viewers. Even though it only aired one episode, TV Guide named it one of the ’50 Worst Shows Of All Time.’
12. Heil Honey I’m Home! (1990)
The British sitcom focused on Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, who lived next to a Jewish couple. The lack of laughs got the show axed before anyone could say Lehem.
25. The Rich List (2006)
The game show was adapted from a U.K. version during which people competed at naming the most ABBA songs.
I didn't manage to see any of these. Have you? Link -via Geekosystem
It takes a lot more than smarts to get far enough to be called a genius. After all, we are judged more on results than on potential. From Incidental Comics by Grant Snider. Link -via Tastefully Offensive
This is what might happen when you have a birthday party in winter. Freezing rain covered the balloons, then they deflated somewhat in the cold. The ice remains as evidence of the original balloon size. Someone needs to do this on purpose, with thicker ice, and make transparent snowmen out of the resulting balls! Link
A clapping-type game called "cups" is spreading rapidly among young schoolgirls. The modern revival, with its accompanying song, is considered to have started with Lulu and the Lampshades' video You're Gonna Miss Me. Their routine was included in the movie Pitch Perfect, which was released on video in December. But why are cups and other clapping games so appealing?
The games are encoded with sociocultural significance, said Elizabeth Tucker, a folklorist and English professor at Binghamton University in New York.
They have existed since at least the late 19th century and their functions include teaching dexterity and serving as tools for forming friendships. And new research is showing that these primitive clapping and chanting games have endured around the world, despite competition from hand-held technology.
Kyra Gaunt, a social science professor at Baruch College in New York, researches hand games. There are so many distractions these days, Gaunt said, that hand games are harder for children to master. And as playtime has become more structured — soccer leagues and play dates — students are discovering the games in different ways, often through music classes, movies and, of course, on the Web.
The spread is easy to explain: you see it, and you say, "That's neat! I wanna learn to do that." Luisa Gerstein of Lulu and the Lampshades said she doesn't know who invented cups, as she had learned it years earlier in school. Some things never change. Link -via TYWKIWDBI
A horse's normal lifespan is around 25-30 years, but Old Billy was an outlier. In fact, when Old Billy died at age 62, he became the longest-living horse ever known.
Old Billy was born in 1760 in Woolston, Lancashire and worked as a barge horse, dragging barges in the canals from the shore for Mersey and Irwell Navigation. (This was a common job for horses prior to the arrival of boat engines.) As he passed his life expectancy and continued to live even as his back became bent and his bones protruded from his thinning flesh, he become something of a local celebrity.
When Old Billy finally bought the farm, so to speak, some of his remains were preserved. In fact, his head is in two places: the skin was mounted on a taxidermy head, and his skull was displayed separately. Part of Billy is now in Manchester, the other in Bedford. Read more about the horse at Atlas Obscura. Link
Not everyone can be Bruce Lee. However, many characters in TV and movies think they can, because they've seen a Bruce Lee film or two. This supercut from Slackstory highlights the funniest martial arts failures, many of which you may remember. -via Laughing Squid
The Ku Klux Klan operated a resort called Kool Koast Kamp near Rockport, Texas in the 1920s. It had all the amenities you'd expect of a camp, fishing, swimming, “watermelon parties,” and educational activities. Meanwhile, you would be protected by "the fiery cross." And there was plenty of shade to protect one's delicate white skin from the sun. See a brochure for the camp at Slate. Link
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
Batman, the popular comic book character and later TV and movie superhero, was born in 1939 in DC Comics. Homosexual interpretations of Batman began in the mid-1950s. These accusations began in 1954 with a book written by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham called Seduction of the Innocent.
Werthan claimed that "The Batman type of story may stimulate children to homosexual fantasies of the nature of which they may be unconscious." Wertham added, "Only someone ignorant of the fundamentals of psychiatry and the psychopathology of sex can fail to realize a subtle atmosphere of homoeroticism which pervades the adventures of the mature Bruce Wayne and his young friend, Robin." Dr. Wertham's book was issued in the context of the "lavender scare" when homosexuality was considered a security risk. It is also worth noting that homosexuality was an officially classified "disease" by psychiatrists until 1972. The good (or bad) Dr. Wertham aside, let's take a look at the nebulous and questionable sexuality of Batman.
The early Batman comics were very dark and moody, sort of a comic book film noire. But by the late 1940s and early '50s, they had become much softer, friendlier, and had a more exotic style -though not quite as "campy" as the later TV series. Bruce Wayne and his youthful ward, Dick Grayson (aka Batman and Robin) shared a large double bed in steely Wayne manor.
In an oft-cited comic panel from a June 1954 Batman comic, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are seen waking up together in their bed. Bruce says, "Ah, that was a good sleep! C'mon, Dick -a cold shower, a big breakfast." The picture of Bruce and Dick also shows a very suspicious-looking object rising under Bruce's side of the blanket (almost certainly the artist was portraying Bruce's knees under the blanket, but hey…).
Female characters were scarce in the Golden Age of comics. Batman's first female ally was named Vicki Vale. His almost complete lack of interest in her, as well as other women in the comic, has been cited to insinuate homosexuality. However, the early Batman character was not without heterosexual desire.
Graphic artist Kapil Bhagat designed a series of ten typographic posters featuring the names of scientists, with each showing a clever clue as to what they are famous for, as a project celebrating Science Day in India. The prints can be purchased at Society Six. See them all at Bhagat's site. Link -via Flavorwire
Pope fever has taken over Rome. Vatican City is crowded with cardinals, fans, journalists, tourists, and souvenir sellers awaiting the papal conclave. Schmoozing with the cardinals was a bishop wearing a fedora instead of a skullcap, and a too-short cassock. Ralph Napierski of the Corpus Dei order (which he founded) made it through one layer of security, and even posed for pictures with the other cardinals before being expelled by Swiss Guards.
Napierski was eventually identified by his unusual dress and escorted from the area by Swiss Guards, to the amusement of journalists gathered nearby, reports ANSA. It’s not clear what he intended to do had he gained access to the meeting.
Napierski is known to German church officials as a troublemaker, reports Spiegel Online.
“He does not work with any of our institutions in any way,” a spokesman for the Berlin Catholic diocese told the German newspaper Bild Zeitung, according to Spiegel Online. The spokesman said Napierski is “self-aggrandizing,” writes angry letters and preaches about sex.
Napierski was headed to a private meeting with the other cardinals. There's no word on what his actual goal was. Link
It's once again time for our collaboration with the wonderfully entertaining What Is It? Blog. Do you know what the pictured item is? Can you guess? Or can you make up something totally wacky?
Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many guesses as you'd like in separate comments. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. Two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will win T-shirt from the NeatoShop.
See more pictures of this item at the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!
Update: the pictured item is indeed a bicycle stand. Anker was the first with the correct answer, and wins a t-shirt front he NeatoShop. The funniest answer came from kkirkpat, who said, "It's a fancy banana stand. And everyone knows, there's always money in the banana stand!"
Josh Millard wrote and recorded this Star Trek parody of Taylor Swift's hit song "I Knew You Were Trouble." Compare to the original song, if you wish. Link -via Metafilter
After housing the lepers of Greece for hundreds of years, the colony on the island of Chios is now a beautiful ruin for explorers.
With a history dating back to the 14th century, this now-abandoned health institution was the first of its kind in Greece. Closed in 1957, the leper colony has now long since fallen into ruin. Doors have come off their hinges, furniture is jumbled up and rusting, and here and there lie the scattered personal effects of the long-departed occupants. When walking around the empty rooms, visitors also need to be wary of falling through the rotting floorboards.
But there are clues to the former grandeur of this community that was built back when they made buildings to last. See more pictures at Environmental Graffiti. Link
It's magic! Or science, actually, because this trick is from Steve Spangler. THe static electricity in the balloon is the key.
When an object has a negative charge, it will repel the electrons of other objects and attract that object’s protons. When the neutrally charged object is light enough, like the match in this case, the negatively charged object will attract the lightweight object. But try attracting a match while it’s laying on a table... it doesn’t work! You need to reduce the amount of other forces acting on the match for this experiment to work, and that’s why you balance the match on the rim of a nickel. Balancing the match enables less surface area to be directly effected by friction, which enables the match to rotate more freely.
The real challenge is to get these things to balance, and then keeping the cat from jumping on the table and ruining it. Link -via Geeks Are Sexy
