The movie The Exorcist came out in 1973. There were no computer-generated effects in movies, and it was way cheaper to use actors than animatronics. Here you see some newly-unearthed footage of the levitation effect tried out on young Linda Blair. She really earned her fee for that movie! Link -via Buzzfeed
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Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer was the most famous and popular member of the Little Rascals comedy shorts series. Several generations grew up watching these funny, talented kids in dozens of short subjects in the 1930s. (Note; the series was originally called Our Gang and was later changed to The Little Rascals, which is how most fans refer to it today.) These black-and-white films enjoyed a whole new life in television in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, and even now the classic shorts are seen by countless new generations on video and DVD (Image left: Wikipedia)
Producer Hal Roach (who also produced the classic Laurel and Hardy films) produced dozens of Little Rascals and Our Gang comedy shorts throughout the depression years of the 1930s. They starred very talented kids with names like Spanky, Buckwheat, Froggy, and girl heroine and sometimes love interest for the boys, Darla Hood.
Like Curly of the Three Stooges, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer quickly rose above his young co-stars in terms of popularity. Alfalfa received fan mail from kids all over the world. According to one "Hollywood legend," Alfalfa was once mobbed by a big group of fans, while nearby, Clark Gable stood by unnoticed.
With his too-tight suit, freckles, and slicked-down haircut (complete with high cowlick), Alfalfa became a true Hollywood icon. Although he played an immensely likable character in the comedy shorts, in real life Alfalfa Switzer was no angel. According to co-star Darla Hood, "Alfie once put fish hooks in Spanky's back pockets and poor Spanky had to have stitches placed on his tush."
Another time, "Alfie put an open switchblade in his pocket and tricked Darla into into putting her hand in his pocket on the pretense that he had a ring for her from a Crackerjack box. She almost lost her fingers." On one occasion, to get back at a rude cameraman, Alfalfa had the kids all chew big wads of gum. then he took the combined wads and put them inside the man's camera.
According to other kids in the Our Gang cast: "Alfie would not pay attention to his school lessons in Mrs. Fern carter's class. He'd be kept after school often and kept everyone waiting on the set of the films."
Spanky told of Alfalfa's most dangerous prank: "We were filming one day and the scene called for the kids to show their own movie on a process screen. The rear projection system and the lights (with a thousand watts per bulb) were taking a long time to set up, so Alfie decided to use his time by going behind the screen and peeing on the bulbs. This is extremely hazardous, for even spitting on those bulbs is tantamount to setting off a series of bombs. The lights exploded and filled the studio with a tremendous stench. Everyone had to be taken off the set as the crew and director fixed the bulbs and cleaned up the mess Alfalfa created that day."
Hey, hockey fans, both avid and casual: how well do you really know your NHL teams? In today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss, you'll be given just a part of a team's logo -a closeup of the face- and you decide what team it belongs to. Or did at one time, because some of them are from the past. You might surprise yourself! Link
Halloween is not only about costumes and jack-o-lanterns! If you don't believe it, you'll need to check out all the wonderful recipes coming in fast and furious at the Halloween blog. And you'll find a roundup of some of the most popular in the feature post 15 Cool and Creepy Halloween Party Foods. Whether you're throwing a theme party or want to dress up your family dinners ahead of the holiday, there's something you'll want to try out. Pictured here is the Kentucky Fried WTF on a Stick. It's just one of 15 you'll find all together at the Neatorama Halloween blog. Link
The folks at minute physics devotes over four minutes to quantum mechanics, but that's still a concise overview. And those minutes go by quickly as mathematical physicist Neil Turok uses simple but fascinating analogies to make his points. -via Viral Viral Videos
You don't have to understand Russian to figure out that this cat is sassing the lady of the kitchen to no end. She must have finally used threats -that usually works better than trying to reason with a stubborn cat. -via Arbroath
These girls are playing volleyball. Can you find the volleyball? Even the players seem to be distracted by the huge floating football! Here's a hint: think of a sport that is neither volleyball nor football. Link
The Bacon Turtle burger contains no turtle meat, it just looks like one! It does contain ground beef, bacon, and hot dogs. You can add a bun if that sounds like too much meat. The complete recipe is at Bacon Today. Link -via Everlasting Blort
Concrete cows have been a familiar sight in a Bancroft park in Milton Keynes, England, since 1978. Since then, the sculptures have been stolen, beheaded, and painted in various fashions, including once having pajamas painted on. But a recent prank that left the bovines painted with skeletons may be the last straw. Officials are considering removing the cows permanently.
Bryony Serginson, The Parks Trust's head of community engagement, said: "We'd rather they stayed where they were - that's where they live and people see them and associate them with that particular park.
"But in the long term if they do continue to be vandalised, then we might have to consider that.
"We are taking it seriously as an act of vandalism. It's going to be costly to us to get the cows back into the proper state that they should be in.
Not everyone took offense at the latest act of vandalism.
Milton Keynes resident Fiona Norrie said: "I don't know if I should be angry, because they've done a really good job. It's very detailed.
"We don't condone graffiti obviously, but it's pretty awesome. It's art."
Jason Edmiston, who brought us Monsters of Rock, took the "big four" classic movie monsters and mashed them up in one artwork! Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy are all here. The limited edition monster mashup prints are available at Edmiston's Etsy shop. Link -via Boing Boing
No matter what a blogger comes up with, nothing seems to beat a top ten list, because, I don't know, I guess it's easy for people to discern what they're getting before they click the link. Anyway, there's a million of them. Glove and Boots runs down the worst of them, and believe it or not, these are real lists. The links to each are posted at the YouTube page. -via Daily of the Day
Starring Pancake, who is a kitten. The song is "Nile's Blues" by Kevin McLeod. This video doesn't have a plot, but it might make you smile. -via Boing Boing
Felix Baumgartner broke a world record with a 24-mile skydive earlier today. While we wait for the video, we can enjoy this speedy re-enactment rendered in LEGO. -via The Daily What Geek
Okay, the actual POV video of the skydive is available now, too. Continue to see it.
Comic Con is making a splash in New York this weekend, and a couple of our favorite professional photographers already have wonderful photos for those of you who couldn't attend.
Geeks Are Sexy contributor Michael Tapp took a ton of pictures of various cosplayers, such as Aquaman pictured here, that you can see in a gallery at Geeks Are Sexy, with more to come later. Link
Senén Llanos set up a portable portrait studio in the convention center to get a different view of some of the cosplayers. See more at his site, with more photos coming later as well. Pictured here is Megnificent as the Riddler. Link
Ain't it the truth? I don't know who came up with this, but it contains the wisdom of the ages. -via Geeks Are Sexy
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