Gung Hay Fat Choy! 恭喜发财! Today is the Lunar New Year’s Day, {wiki} ushering in the Year of the Pig. The celebration is 15 days long, with different traditional activities for each day. It ends with the Lantern Festival, which is on March 3rd this year. Since it's a lunar calendar, these holidays fall on different dates each year. In honor of the occasion, Retrocrush has published The Greatest Porkers in Pop Culture History. Link

The physics behind a tesla coil are beyond me. But wouldn’t this be a grand way to deter theives from your car? This page at Tesla Down Under has lots more pictures of tesla coils and their possible applications. Link -via Arbroath

Nigerian 419 letters are the scourge of the internet. Inboxes are flooded with requests for help in moving large sums of money which can only result in emptying the recipient’s wallet. Or it could result in comedy. Scammers sometimes run into "scambaiters", who try to outwit the scammer for fun. You’ll find lots of stories of scambaiting at 419 Eater. In the above scenario, a scambaiter convinced the scammers that they could win a cash film scholarship by recreating Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch! Push play or go to YouTube. For comparison purposes, the original is on YouTube. Link to story. -via b3ta

A 15-year-old would-be graffitti artist in Ontario couldn’t resist the lure of a new bridge. He tied a rope to the bridge and lowered himself with a spray can, but left his cell phone behind. The rope became tangled in his clothing, so he removed most of it, in sub-freezing weather. He dangled for two hours before neighbors heard his cries. After his rescue, he first said he was snowmobiling and three men jumped him, tied him up and threw him off the bridge. Eventually, the real story came out. Supposedly unneccessary warning: Don’t try this! Link -via Fark

Twice a year, tens of thousands of librarians make a trek across the United States to a meeting of the American Library Association. They come to learn, to network, to collect free stuff, and possibly to mate. After observing these noble creatures, certain patterns become apparent. The male librarians often display fabulous facial plumage, perhaps in order to attract a mate. In six months, they will descend on a new city, and the strange ritual will unfold again.

Push play or go to YouTube. More on books and librarians today at Miss Cellania.

On the one hand, this is really silly and even funny in places. On the other hand, it makes me want to adopt this sweet, naive, and lonely cat Otto. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Arbroath

Aniboom’s new animation competition centers around American Idol contestants. Create a short animated parody or satire and you could win either an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles to meet your new agent OR a production deal with Aniboom! They offer 26 downloadable song parodies to use, or you can create your own. Contest details are available now. Link

Necco has been manfacturing those little candy hearts since 1902, but conversation hearts were invented by the company founder’s brother during the Civil War! Those early hearts had phrases on paper inside them. Now, the imprinted phrases are limited by the size of the candy. Every year, new phrases are introduced, and old phrases are retired. The new phrases for 2007 are pet-related, include "Cool Cat," "Puppy Love," and "Take a Walk." Link

Its a miracle we ever progressed as far as we have. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Exploding Aardvark

You didn’t know there were obstacle course competitions for bunnies, did you? Push play or go to YouTube. Rabbits compete in the straight course, crooked course, long jump, and high jump. Rasmus Bjerner has information, including instructions for training rabbits to hop. Link -via Arbroath

Is it a modular home, a recreational vehicle, or a trailer? The Glassic Soho Flat is a manufactured 400 square-foot glass-walled living space. You can select from three floor plans (one bedroom, two bedroom, or studio). Since it has no kitchen, it’s marketed as a vacation getaway, but can be outfitted with optional laundry appliances and a fireplace. A fully-furnished unit will cost you over $59,000. Link to article. http://breckenridgefinerliving.com/exterior.html to product.

On May 4th, 1988 a fire at the Pacific Engineering Production Company in Nevada ignited tons of the chemical ammonium perchlorate, a rocket-fuel booster. The resulting explosion was said to be roughly equivalent to a kiloton of TNT. Push play or go to YouTube. Link to entire Damn Interesting story.

Nora enjoys playing the piano. She's no Van Cliburn, but for a cat, she's pretty good. She'll even play a duet! Push play or go to YouTube. Link to Nora’s webpage. -via Arbroath

Did you know you can play music on a scanner? The HP ScanJet 4c has an unofficial “play tune” command. This one is playing Beethoven’s Fur Elise. Push play or go to Google video. Link to article. -via Grow-A-Brain

The first comment in the previous post, Real-life Happy Feet reminded me of this amusing French TV spot, which capitalized on the name of the movie La Marche de l’empereur, or March of the Emperor. The movie was released in the US as March of the Penguins. Push play or go to YouTube. (Thanks, Barjak!)