Artist Phil Postma saw the many Pixar/Marvel mashups done after the announcement that Disney was buying Marvel comics. And then he went to work to do more of them, and better. The results are quite faithful to the Pixar style while well illustrating Marvel super heroes and villains. Notice how Catwoman bears a strong resemblance to Colette Tatou of Ratatouille. Peter Parker reminds me of Alfredo Linguini-Gusteau. The redhead looks familiar, too. Link -via Unreality
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This video answers its own question as we meet Bill and Glad, who have been married fifty years. Bill considers it a privilege to care for his wife, because he loves her. It's that simple. -via Buzzfeed
Kelli Higgins and her husband have eight children, including 13-year-old Latrell and his younger sister, who were adopted from foster care at age 10 and 5.
The family was sitting around the dinner table last month, when Higgins – a professional photographer – mentioned that she was preparing for an upcoming baby photo session. Latrell mentioned that he wished he had baby photos of himself.
Higgins’ 12-year-old daughter asked, why not “recreate” a newborn photo shoot just for Latrell? The family had a good laugh thinking about him in all the newborn poses.
“I thought it was funny and that it would be a good idea,” Latrell told TODAY.com. His mom found the notion bittersweet.
“I was very sad too because I didn’t have any photos of him either," Higgins said. "I think it’s really hard to have children and not know what they looked like when they were younger.”
Higgins and Latrell went into her studio the next day, both laughing hysterically the whole time, she recalled.
Latrell's photo shoot created a sensation when she posted it on her Facebook page. Latrell is cool with it, and the photos have brought attention to the many older children available for adoption. Link -via Metafilter
(Image credit: Kelli Higgins Photography)
In a real-life version of the movie Speed, Frank Lecerf was forced to drive at top speed when his Renault Laguna, which was adapted for disabled drivers, went out of control. While running an errand in his home town of Pont-de-Metz, France, Lecerf found that any tap on his brakes made the car speed up -up to 125 mph!
While uncontrollably speeding through the fast lane as other cars swerved out of his way, he managed to call emergency services who immediately dispatched a platoon of police cars.
Realising Lecerf had no choice but to keep racing along until his petrol ran out, they escorted him at high speed across almost 125 miles of French motorway, past Calais and Dunkirk, and over the Belgian border.
Puzzled motorists gave way as the high-speed convoy approached. Three toll stations were warned to raise their barriers as Lecerf ploughed through. After about an hour, his petrol tank spluttered empty and he managed to swerve into a ditch in Alveringem in Belgium, about 125 miles from his home, in Pont-de-Metz, near the northern French city of Amiens.
"My life flashed before me," he told Le Courrier picard. "I just wanted it to stop." He was unhurt but had two epileptic seizures.
Lecerf was connected to a Renault engineer during the ordeal, but nothing they tried slowed the vehicle. There is no word yet on why the car accelerated out of control. Link
"I had a cookie once. It was awful."
Would you like a little grumpiness with your cookies? I can't find out who made these grumpy cat cookies, even though the picture is posted without information in websites of several nationalities. Too bad, because I'd have to buy some! Link
Update: I knew somebody here would know! These cookies are from Whipped Bakeshop in Philadelphia. -Thanks, Elizabeth D!
A Valentine's Day gift means more when it's not only romantic, but acknowledges your sweetheart's interests or passions. There are plenty of geeky gifts for fans in this list, including these Red Supreme Valentine's Dalek Dangle Earrings from the HokeyDonut Etsy shop for a Doctor Who fan. There are also gift ideas for gamers, sci-fi geeks, and even Bronies! Link
Julia Pastrana, once known as "the ugliest woman in the world," was born in 1834 with hypertrichosis terminalis, meaning her entire body was covered with hair several inches long. She also had a deformed mouth with huge teeth, leading one doctor of the day to declare that she was "a hybrid between human and orangutan." However, Pastrana sang with a beautiful voice and could speak several languages. She was exhibited by Theodor Lent, who eventually married her. In 1860, Pastrana gave birth in Moscow to a son who was also covered with hair, and who died within two days. Pastrana herself died five days later. Her body was preserved and exhibited by various owners for the next few decades, eventually ending up in storage in Oslo. Now, thanks to the efforts of Mexican artist Laura Anderson Barbata, Pastrana's body was returned to her native Mexico, where she was buried today.
People flocked to the town of Sinaloa de Leyva on Tuesday where Julia Pastrana was laid to rest in a white coffin adorned with white roses.
"Imagine the aggression and cruelty of humankind she had to face, and how she overcame it. It's a very dignified story," said Sinaloa Governor Mario Lopez.
"A human being should not be the object of anyone," Father Jaime Reyes Retana told mourners.
A Krispy Kreme delivery truck stopped at the Quick Shop on Dacula Road in Gwinnet County, Georgia. While the driver was inside unloading doughnuts, security camera footage shows how another man, later identified as James Freddy Major, jumped into the truck and drove off!
The store clerk immediately called police.
Police said Major led them on a nearly 15-mile chase. He went from Dacula Road, down Highway 316, to Interstate 85.
"Could you imagine going down the interstate and seeing the Krispy Kreme donut truck with the cops chasing behind it?; Flashing lights? What would you think,” said store worker Susan Patterson.
He eventually came to a dead end in a residential neighborhood. Police said he tried to run but a police dog tracked him down.
Police arrested Major on several charges, including theft and driving under the influence. Link -via Fark
In Lee Hardcastle's claymation trailer for the new Die Hard film, John McClay blows up Russia and everything else. (via The Browser)
Hey, we should be used to businesses capitalizing on holidays even if the link is less than obvious. Or discernible at all. But how romantic can having a cockroach named in your honor possibly be? Maybe just a little more romantic than a coupon for liposuction or a sewer plant tour. Mental_floss has rounded up seven promotional events that completely suck all the romantic feelings out of Valentine's Day. That doesn't mean you won't want to participate! Link
When you explain complicated concepts to an extraterrestrial, or a time-traveler, or a child with no frame of reference, you must boil the idea down to its simplest elements. But sometimes doing that reveals that the concept itself makes no sense! Maybe we should do this sort of thing more often. Link
These are 100% honest-to-goodness headlines. Can you figure out what the writers were trying to say?
Man Eating Piranha Mistakenly Sold as Pet Fish
Nuns Forgive Break-in, Assault Suspect
Man with One Arm Cheats on Other Half
Home Depot Purchases Wallpaper, Blinds Retailers
Nation Split on Bush as Uniter or Divider
Man is Fatally Slain
Utah Girl Does Well in Dog Shows
Smithsonian May Cancel Bombing of Japan Exhibits
Poll Says 53% Believe That Media Offen Makes Mistakes
Some Pieces of Rock Hudson Sold at Auction
Blind Woman Gets New Kidney from Dad She Hasn't Seen in Years
A Reason for Odor Found at Sewer Plant
Judges Appear More Lenient on Crack Cocaine
William Kelly was Fed Secretary
TV Networks Agree to Police Violence
Autos Killing 110 a Day, Let's Resolve to Do Better
Dealers Will Hear Car talk at Noon
Bush Planning Mars Trip
Arafat Swears in Cabinet
Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Experts Say
Lansing Residents Can Drop Off Trees
Sewer District Plans Emergency Backup
Man Accused of Shooting Neighbor, Dog Held for Trial
(Title image via Criggo)
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!
If you're thinking of watching a romantic film for Valentine's Day, tell your significant other that The Notebook was completely rented out and the only thing available was Inglourious Basterds or District Nine. Seriously, you'll thank me for this advice. Screen Junkies explains why in the latest of the Honest Trailer series.
BRI members enjoy trying to stump us with brainteasers and riddles. Now we try to stump you back.
1. One morning while she was eating breakfast, Laura's diamond ring slipped off her finger and fell into a full cup of coffee, but the ring didn't get wet. Why not?
2. Sam's father is five years older than Sam's grandfather. How can this be?
3. What grows down while it grows up?
4. Five hundred begins it, five hundred ends it,
Five in the middle is seen.
The first of all letters, the first of all people,
Take their place in between.
Combine them all to make the name of a famous king.
5. What is the only professional sport in which neither the players nor the spectators know the score until the match is over?
6. What ship has two mates but no captain?
7. What is it that turns everything around but does not move itself?
8. What is the greatest worldwide use of cowhide?
9. I know a man who can shave ten times a day and still have a full beard. Who is he?
The answer is neither one of these guys.
10. My friend Julia was walking down Fifth Street when she found something that had no bones and no legs. She brought it home and put it on her windowsill. A week later, it walked away. What did Julia find?
11. I can sizzle like bacon,
I am made with an egg,
I have plenty of backbone but lack a good leg.
I peel layers like onions, but still remain whole;
I can be long, like a flagpole, yet fit in a hole.
What am I?
12. Hi there! Ma and Pa told me I'd better tell you that all the two-letter words in this paragraph have something in common -or else! What's the deal?
13. The first man is the master of priceless gems;
The second man is the master of love;
The third man is the master of shovels;
The fourth man is the master of big sticks;
Who are they?
14. What well-known object is described in this poetic riddle by the 19-century English poet Sir Edmund Goss?
My love, when I gaze on thy beautiful face,
Careering along, yet always in place,
The though has often come into my mind
If I ever shall see they glorious behind.
Continue reading for the answers when you are ready for them.
It's time for the latest edition of our collaboration with the always amusing What Is It? Blog. Can you guess what this thing is? Or can you make up something silly?
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. Pease do not post 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.
Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize, okay? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?
See more pictures of this mystery item at the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!
Update: the complicated-looking tool is is a bonde cutter - the bonde is the tapered wooden plug (often a soft hardwood such as poplar) that fits into the filling hole of a wine barrel. You can read more about it at the What Is It? blog. Finally, ladybugs came up with the answer, and wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! The funniest answer was by ColShorts, who said, "It looks like that thing that I made in shop class, to get out of making things in shop…" He wins a t-shirt for that! Thanks to everyone who participated, and look for another What Is It? game coming soon!
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