Pantone has announced their color of the year, or shall we say, colors of the year, because there are two. For the upcoming year, pick the vibrant, uplifting, and optimistic PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating (which most of us would call yellow), or the very neutral and cautious PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray. Or use them together, which seems a bit strange, but it's almost 2021, which seems strange in itself.  

A message of happiness supported by fortitude, the combination of PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating is aspirational and gives us hope. We need to feel that everything is going to get brighter – this is essential to the human spirit.

As people look for ways to fortify themselves with energy, clarity, and hope to overcome the continuing uncertainty, spirited and emboldening shades satisfy our quest for vitality. PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warming yellow shade imbued with solar power. PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray is emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation. The colors of pebbles on the beach and natural elements whose weathered appearance highlights an ability to stand the test of time, Ultimate Gray quietly assures, encouraging feelings of composure, steadiness and resilience.

Okay, if you say so. One commenter called these colors "caution tape" and "sweatpants." -via Boing Boing

In 1886, Teddy Roosevelt, still in his twenties, boated down the Little Missouri River and stopped to hunt cougars. How like him. When he returned from his side trip (without a cougar), someone had stolen his boat. While this story so far seems like one of those movies where everything goes wrong, you have to remember this is Theodore Roosevelt, and so he took matters into his own hands.  

Roosevelt and the two cowboys with him built themselves a new boat, and they piled into it and headed after the scoundrels. They sailed for three days. The makeshift vessel didn't offer a ton of shelter, and temperatures dropped to around zero. But they did have blankets, as well as enough bacon and coffee to sustain themselves, and really, that's all a man needs.  

Build another boat, just like that. Roosevelt and his companions caught up with the boat thieves, and that's where the tale gets exciting. The future president actually took photographs! Read the rest of Roosevelt's adventure, and other stories like the time Abraham Lincoln was distracted from the Civil War by three motherless kittens, and how Peter the Great started his reign sharing the throne with his brother, in 5 Ridiculous Side Stories Starring Famous Historical Figures at Cracked.

It takes special cameras to film in high speed, night vision, and x-ray photography. Here you will see all three! In slow-motion, you can see how they appear to be swimming through the air, appearing a bit awkward compared to bird flight, but still much better than any other mammals would be at the task. -via Laughing Squid

A rare conjunction of planets will soon be visible from earth for the first time in almost 800 years. Jupiter and Saturn will appear to be in close conjunction from our vantage point, only about a tenth of a degree apart. This closest point will be on December 21, the winter solstice, as NBC reports.

It will be the first Jupiter-Saturn conjunction since 2000, but the first time the planets will have been so close since 1623. It will also be the first time such a close conjunction has been observable since 1226, according to EarthSky.

Still, according to NASA, "while the two gas giants may appear close, in reality they are hundreds of millions of miles apart."

The event has been dubbed the "Christmas star," because some astronomers have theorized the “Star of Bethlehem” could have been a rare conjunction involving both Jupiter and Saturn.

While the conjunction on the 21st will be brief, the planets will appear close together on days both before and afterward. Read more about the phenomenon and how to best observe it at Bad Astronomy.  -Thanks, WTM!

(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Not My Job is a subreddit for posting evidence of people doing a job badly. Maybe it really is their job, but they don't know what they're doing, or are just phoning it in that day. Or maybe they were assigned a task that is beyond their knowledge or experience.



See 50 examples of a job done badly in a ranked list of images taken from the subreddit at Bored Panda.

Donnie Darko is described as "a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film," which is a lot. I didn't see it, and only became aware of it later as a movie about an imaginary rabbit, kind of like Harvey but darker. It became a cult favorite among misunderstood teenage geniuses contemplating the more sinister aspects of existence. This Honest Trailer explains the movie further, but I am still far from understanding what it's really about.

It's been said that Moose Milk was developed to use up leftover liquor, but it also seems to be rather nutritious for a cocktail. Traditional recipes call for amounts that would keep an entire regiment warm, and it has kept the Canadian military going through long dark winters.  

Though there are many iterations, historic recipes for Moose Milk typically revolved around the core ingredients of liquor, cream, and egg yolks beaten with sugar. While the Canadian military lays claim to the invention of the cocktail, which division made it first is uncertain. The navy, army, and air force each make their own versions, all hearty concoctions using a diverse array of liquor options (soldiers often used whatever was on hand, but it’s best to stay in the realm of whiskey, rum, and vodka). In an interview with Imbibe magazine, Michael Boire, a retired Canadian army major who first tried Moose Milk while serving in the Royal Highland Regiment, called the stuff “high-propulsion eggnog,” noting that, “everybody in uniform has tasted it at one time or another.”

Moose Milk appears to be rather close to egg nog, with the optional additions of coffee, chocolate, and/or ice cream, which all seem delicious. Find out more about Moose Milk and read a recipe that makes a mere two servings at Atlas Obscura.

(Image credit: Rachel Rummel for Gastro Obscura)

This is easily THE most bizarre advertisement I have seen in quite some time :) I made a mental list of products/services that it could be advertising, but it beat every single expectation or idea into smithereens and my jaw hit the floor as the product reveal happened! 1/2 pic.twitter.com/51X8tEGPFs

— Karthik (@beastoftraal) December 2, 2020

As you watch this ad from the Philippines, try to guess what you're being sold. It will become clear eventually, but by then you'll be way more concerned with the bizarre story that unfolds. What is not clear is who thought this would sell the product. That would be the ad agency Gigil.

“The film is actually about belonging and acceptance—but we just showed it in a different way.”

See, it's not really about the product, it's about virality. And the ad went plenty viral, which cements brand consciousness. The upside is that all of us can watch something truly bizarre, whether we buy the product or not. -via Everlasting Blort

In 2010, New Mexico's Forrest Fenn buried a treasure chest, containing a million dollars worth of gold and jewelry, and launched a nationwide treasure hunt. Thousands of people tried to decipher the clues and find the box. In June of 2020, Fenn announced that someone had found and retrieved the treasure, but wished to remain anonymous. After all, lots of people had spent years on the quest, several had died, and there were lawsuits pending. Forrest Fenn himself had endured harassment and threats over the treasure hunt. Fenn confirmed the find with photographs, and then died in September. Writer Daniel Barbarisi was one of those who tried to solve the clues and find the treasure. After the announcement, he switched gears and tried to find the winner. He did, and began a correspondence.

So despite exchanging dozens of emails with the finder, and discussing the details of the chest and what locating it meant to him, I never pressed him about who he was, and he never volunteered.

Last week, he told me the situation had changed. Fenn had been targeted by lawsuits both before and after the chest was found, by hunters claiming that the treasure was rightfully theirs. One of the lawsuits, filed immediately after Fenn announced the hunt was over, also targets the unknown finder as a defendant, claiming that he had stolen the plaintiff’s solve and used it to find the chest. That litigation had advanced to a procedural stage during which the finder expected his name would likely come out in court. So while he remained guarded about his solve and the location where he discovered the treasure, he now didn’t mind telling me who he really was.

Strangely, the finder is someone you may have heard of. Read about the Forrest Fenn treasure, the guy who found it, and what's happened since then at Outside Online. -via Damn Interesting

Ready for another Norse myth? Everyone loved Baldaur, except Loki, who was jealous. That leads to deadly mischief. This TED-Ed story comes from Iseult Gillespie, with lovely animation. -via Geeks Are Sexy

This photo shows a white cougar, caught on a trail camera at Serra dos Órgãos National Park in Brazil. It was snapped in 2013, and the cat was never seen afterward. The photos from that time are the only evidence of a cougar with leucism in the wild. Ever.

“That shows you how extremely unusual it is,” says Luke Hunter, executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Big Cats Program and author of the book Wild Cats of the World. “It’s a striking set of photos.”

Genetic color aberrations, such as albinism and leucism, are relatively common among wild cats, but for unknown reasons, they’re almost unheard of in cougars, a successful predator whose habitat stretches from Canada to Chile, the biggest north-south range of any wild cat.

Read about the mutation that can make a white cougar and other color aberrations in cats at National Geographic. -via Damn Interesting

Jim Behymer knows sandwiches. He runs a site called Sandwich Tribunal and he makes his own bologna. Behymer saw a meme referencing pumpkin spice bologna, which does not exist -or it didn't until he made some.

First I want to say this: pumpkin spice bologna is delicious. It works way better than you think it should, way better than our calcified tastes want it to. It’s fatty meat, cured and spiced, and what’s so wrong about that?

Also let us firmly state the obvious: that pumpkin spice bologna is a stupid idea, it should not exist, and I was an idiot to make it, must less make this video about it.

To acknowledge that both these things are true, simultaneously, is to acknowledge the absurdity of our existence. Or at least the absurdity of my existence.

Watching Behymer grind the spices and meat and make pumpkin spice bologna is quite pleasant -and I would imagine certainly more pleasant than watching a commercial meat processor do it. He makes a sandwich with pumpkin spice bologna and another with his homemade pumpkin spice mortadella. Even if you would never be inclined to eat such a thing (my only objection is the use of white bread), you'll enjoy seeing it because of Behymer's attention to detail and his obvious appreciation of a well-made sandwich. Get his recipe for pumpkin spice bologna here. -via Metafilter

“I make no secret: I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Santa Claus is an elderly, traditional character. However, he loves his job, and if the pandemic means he cannot see good little boys and girls in person, then he is willing to go the extra mile to meet them on Zoom, in chat rooms, and through Facetime. That’s been quite a challenge, but well worth it to spread the love. Santa started with Zoom for Dummies and progressed to purchasing all kinds of IT supplies. Try not to get all verklempt when you watch this “On the Road” segment from CBS News.  

Think of Cap'n Crunch, and you most likely think of scratching the inside of your mouth when eating the cereal. However, the mascot himself has a fascinating story. He's even older than the cereal he promotes! But there's a dark side to the Cap'n: a controversy over his actual rank.

As for the Cap’n, one might assume that a great deal of research went into designing the saccharine sailor’s uniform, but they would be incorrect. The U.S. Navy follows a strict code defining how uniforms are to reflect rank. The most readily apparent way for the general public to identify a captain would be the number of stripes displayed on an individual’s sleeve. Per regulation, captains wear four stripes, commanders three, lieutenants two, and ensigns one, with additional thinner stripes for grades between. This is where the question of Mr. Crunch’s proper rank becomes uncertain. Over the years, he has variously appeared with anywhere from one to three stripes. Even when apparently serving as Ensign Crunch, however, he has continued to erroneously make use of the title Cap’n.

There were so many questions about the Cap’n's rank that the U.S. Navy even got involved. But there's more, like the roundabout way that Cap'n Crunch led to the founding of Apple Computers, all of which you can read about at Today I Found Out.

(Image credit: Flickr user israelavila)

YouTuber pwnisher staged a contest for digital animators, in which they each took a simple prompt and created unique environments around it. The winners are named at the YouTube page. Here are the entries strung together. The only thing they have in common is the rear view of a character walking toward a mountain in the background. Everything else is new and different, constructed from imagination and rendered with the contestant's choice of software. Watching this is like taking a tour of all possible fantasy dimensions in a hurry, yet because of the music and the pace of walking, it's also soothing. I would recommend enjoying this in full-screen mode. -via Nag on the Lake