Patrick Quinn and Tom Riles produced this video, in which a bunch of dads sing "Part of Your World." It was made for the site Life of Dad. Quinn has daughters, which means he's seen The Little Mermaid on home video more than he cares to admit.
Quinn, who is married to Riles's oldest sister, actually came up with the idea while on a bike ride: "Besides all of my music, I have princess songs and kids' stuff on my iPod for when we are on long car rides." He found that he would often re-listen to the Disney songs for his kids. "Once you have a daughter, no matter how tough, thuggish, or introverted you might be, you're going to play princess with reckless abandon in front of others knowing that if anyone sees you they're going to understand. Especially if that someone is another dad."
Riles gives credit to his sisters. "My sisters all loved 'The Little Mermaid' growing up, and I must say, the Disney films of that generation were the best." Most of the men in the video have kids, and those who don't have nieces who "made sure they knew all the lyrics."
Other fathers around the country who have girls understood, and gamely contributed. Link (contains auto-play video) -via The Daily What
Take it from this visionary: It's all about ideas. For example, since gas is so expensive, let's run our cars on compost! The Onion parodies TED Talks in a new series.
Oh, you knew they were odd birds, but they are even stranger than you knew. I had no idea they can change colors to impress the opposite sex!
When pelicans are courting, they open and close their bills to make their gular sacks ripple, strut around, and toss sticks and dried fish up into the air. Their bills and pouches also change color. For example, an Australian’s pelican’s pouch will turn bright pink, the throat turns yellow, and parts of the bill turn bright blue. Different species of pelicans display different color changes, but they are all vivid and beautiful.
Read more about pelicans, and see some great pictures at Environmental Graffiti. Link
Brazilian artist Andre Muniz Gonzaga works with the natural shape of large rocks, crumbling walls, and other edifices in public spaces to create appealing street art. See more of these at High Fructose. Link -via Boing Boing
If you get a geeky science fiction tattoo, people will know what you're into. If you get a really obscure reference tattooed into your skin, you'll know that anyone who recognizes it is a serious fan and possibly a kindred spirit. Are you reading this in hopes of finding out what character this tattoo represents? Then you'll have to go see the full list of tattoos at Oddee. My favorite is the hitchhiker from the cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but this one's cute, too! Link
The Gregory Brothers know how to make a political debate entertaining. Just add music, auto-tune the candidates, and give Candy Crowley a keytar. -via The Daily What
PBS Newshour has a Facebook app in which you can customize your own political ad. You just slot in a few pictures (from your Facebook page) and a slogan and voila! A generic political candidate ad, just like most of the ones you see on TV. You can see mine here. Or make your own. You have your choice of a nice folksy one like mine, or an attack ad. Link -via mental_floss
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
Jimmy Nicol was an adept and professional 24-year-old drummer who had played with several British bands and on many recording sessions. Jimmy, a well-respected journeyman musician, had recently formed a new band in 1964 called The Shubdubs. Ordinarily, all this would probably never meant a hill of beans to anyone but Jimmy's friends, relatives, bandmates, and girlfriend -but things were to take a very abrupt change in the life of Jimmy Nicol. He was about to skyrocket from total obscurity to becoming one of the most famous people on the planet Earth.
On June 3, 1964, Ringo Starr, the Beatles' ultra-popular drummer, collapsed and was hospitalized from a severe and sudden case of tonsillitis. The Beatles, the four most popular and famous human beings in show business (or any other business), were on the eve of their next tour, taking in Australia, Holland, Denmark, and Hong Kong. Frantic, the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein huddled with their producer George Martin.
The "canceling the tour" option was obvious, but that would result in thousands of disappointed fans, not to mention millions of lost pounds. The Beatles were approached with the idea of embarking on their tour without Ringo, using a fill-in drummer instead. John and Paul were surprisingly agreeable and accepted the idea readily. It was George Harrison who refused. "If Ringo's not going, I'm not going,"said George firmly. "You can find two replacements." Finally, after much persuasion, George gave in.
Jimmy Nicol received a phone call from out of the blue, midday on June 3, 1964. "I was having a bit of a lie down after lunch when the phone rang," said Jimmy. After what must have been the most surreal phone call of his life, Jimmy Nicol drove to the Beatles' office, rehearsed quickly with the boys, and was packed and ready to leave for Australia.
When Jimmy's fee was discussed, Brian offered £2,500 and a £2,500 bonus up front. "Good God," chimed in perennial agitator John Lennon. "You'll make the chap crazy. Give him £10,000!"
Jimmy Nicol was going to be the new drummer for the Beatles. "I got no sleep that night," remembered Jimmy (you think?). Now one-fourth of the Fab Four, Jimmy arrived with his mated in Melbourne the next day. On June 4, 300,000 fans lined the streets and greeted the Beatles as they were driven from the airport to their hotel. (As an interesting bit of Beatle trivia, this crowd was to be the biggest to ever see the Beatles. It is quite ironic that Ringo was not there to share the experience.)
His hair now combed down into a semi-Beatles moptop, Jimmy hopped up on his drum kit and drummed on that night's Melbourne concert, undoubtedly realizing that just a few hours ago, if he had dropped off the face of the Earth, a handful of people would have been affected or cared. Jimmy wore Ringo's suit (the pants were too short). Paul recalled, "He was sitting up on his rostrum eyeing all the women." The Beatles' usual concert set of eleven songs was clipped down to ten, as Ringo's trademark song "I Wanna Be Your Man" bit the dust.
Once again, it's time for our collaboration with the always fascinating What Is It? Blog. Do you know what this thing is? Or can you make an amusing wild guess?
Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many as you'd like. 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 the mystery item at the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!
Update: the mystery item is a woodworker's compass, a pencil or scribe placed into one of the holes would make a circle of the appropriate size when the compass was rotated around the spike. Berhard had the correct answer first, and wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! The funniest answer came from robopanda, who guessed it to be an extreme incense burner for especially smelly hippies! That's definitely worth a t-shirt. Thanks to everyone who played this week! Find out the purposes to all the mystery items of the week at the What Is It? blog.
Louis Ortiz was unemployed for a year when a bartender told him that if he shaved, he'd look like the president. Ortiz ran with the idea, and now appears at events, in movies, and on the streets of New York. A short documentary at the New York Times follows Ortiz through his transformation. Don't miss the Romney lookalike that appears toward the end. Link -via Breakfast Links
Too many decisions to make! This Twaggie was illustrated by David Barneda from a Tweet by SlayerSays. Check out all the illustrated Tweets (and you may find one you want on a t-shirt) at Twaggies! Link
Ig Nobel Achievements distilled into limerick form by Martin Eiger, Improbable Research Limerick Laureate
The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, then make them think. For details of all the Ig Nobel Prize–winning achievements, see each year’s special Ig Nobel issue of the magazine, and also see the website.
The prize was awarded to Jerald Bain of Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto and Kerry Siminoski of the University of Alberta for their carefully measured report, “The Relationship Among Height, Penile Length, and Foot Size.” [Published in Annals of Sex Research, vol. 6, no. 3, 1993, pp. 231-5.]
They looked at Moes, Curlys, and Larrys. They studied some Toms, Dicks, and Harrys. They measured the size Of parts of these guys. Two stay fixed over time, while one varies.
The prize was awarded to Texas State Senator Bob Glasgow, wise writer of logical legislation, for sponsoring the 1989 drug control law which makes it illegal to purchase beakers, flasks, test tubes, or other laboratory glassware without a permit.
In Texas, the threat, Mr. Speaker, We’re dealing with couldn’t be bleaker. We ought to compel A license to sell A test tube, a flask, or a beaker.
If you’re hanged, if you’re pumped full of lead, If you’re speared, if they chop off your head, If you’re poisoned or gassed, If high voltage is passed, Does it hurt right before you are dead?
This article is republished with permission from the March-April 2012 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. You can download or purchase back issues of the magazine, or subscribe to receive future issues. Or get a subscription for someone as a gift!
Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.
If you're already tired of the never-ending marathons of Halloween horror films on TV, maybe you'd like to celebrate the season by some reading. Flavorwire has some suggestions in a reading list that ranges from Hamlet (yes, it's a ghost story) to Aim For the Head: An Anthology of Zombie Poetry.
Maybe it’s just us, but we always consider poetry as a form (barring, you know, limericks) to be naturally a little more highbrow than prose. Which balances out the fact that zombies are probably the most lowbrow of popular monsters. So if you’re a poetry buff looking for a little excitement on a cold October night, or just someone who’s felt the incomprehensible urge to compose a poetic ode to The Walking Dead, we suggest this anthology, which takes itself seriously, but not too seriously.
You're sure to find something intriguing in the list of 10 books. Link
