We see videos of dogs having a hard time trying to figure out how to carry a stick through a gate, but here this one is doing calculations in his head. We believe this dog, first seen at reddit, is a Belgian Malinois, a rather intelligent breed. Watch this good boy figure out how to carry all the tires at once! Yeah, sure he was trained, but you can see him working out the problem on the spot. Still, if this dog was a real genius, he would spend his time figuring out how to get someone else to do the work for him. -via Laughing Squid

Prince Edward Island, only referred to as P.E.I. in the linked article, is Canada's smallest province. Life there seems pretty calm and uncontroversial, rather nice, actually, as glimpsed at through the CBC's annual list of top news items from the island. For example, in August of 2021, Breadcrumbs the duck became newsworthy because she was lonely. She was a sole duck survivor of a predator attack on her farm.  

"The owner was like, 'Well, ducks are social creatures. They need some friends.' And so they put out a call on Facebook," Atkinson said.

"Facebook [came] to the rescue, including a former farmer on the North Shore who had some spare ducks. Suddenly, Breadcrumbs has some friends and it's in the news."

The other seven news stories include a local man who became a professional competitive eater, a little girl who met a lamb, a cop who chased a suspect in a kayak, and a weasel found in a toilet. Read them all in this year's list of top news stories from P.E.I. -via Fark

(Image credit: Kelsey Langille)

The history of automobiles is somewhat murky, not because we don't have records, but because we can't quite settle on a consistent definition of an automobile. You may have read that the world's first production automobile was patented in 1885, yet there were many pioneers in the field before that. Getting a machine to push a load that wasn't attached to anything else goes back much further.

French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built a steam-powered wagon for the French Army to haul cannons in 1770. His fardier à vapeur, as he named it, was self-contained, steerable, and ridable. That pretty much fills the bill for an automobile, yet Cugnot's design had drawbacks that meant it would never go into production. It was not practical or useful enough to replace horse-drawn wagons.

Cugnot deserves a page in history for his invention, but he also has the title of the first driver in an automobile accident as he drove his fardier à vapeur into a wall. There's even a woodcut illustrating the momentous event. Read about Cugnot's steam-powered wagon at Amusing Planet.

(Image credit: Joe deSousa)

Feuerzangenbowle is a flaming punch that is now associated with Christmas in Germany. Its roots can be traced back at least as far as the 1700s, when students documented the party trick of burning rum-soaked sugar and letting the aromatic syrup that resulted drip into some kind of drink. Over time, that drink became the now-customary wine with fruit and spices. It was the subject of a 1944 German film titled Die Feuerzangenbowle (pictured above).

Today you can find Feuerzangenbowle (which translate to fire tongs punch) at Christmas markets and festivals in Germany. Well, not exactly today, because such events have been canceled due to the global pandemic. But the punch was there in 2019, and maybe next Christmas. Meanwhile, you can make your own Feuerzangenbowle, or the single serving Feuerzangentasse, at home with recipes from Atlas Obscura. Keep in mind that you shouldn't serve or drink the warm punch until all the sugar has melted and the flame has completely extinguished.  

OMG. Must-read obit for Renay Mandel Corren: “Renay is also survived by…her favorite son, the gay one who writes catty obituaries in his spare time, Andy Corren, of - obviously - New York City.” https://t.co/cGOp6Nwarw

— Paul Seamus Ryan (he/him) (@ThePaulSRyan) December 16, 2021

Renay Mandel Corren of El Paso, Texas, died on Saturday. She was 84. She led a unique life, which we get to know about thanks to the obituary composed by her son, writer Andy Corren. Corren pulls no punches in describing his mother and her antics in life, but the love and esteem her family held for her comes through in the story.

A more disrespectful, trash-reading, talking and watching woman in NC, FL or TX was not to be found. Hers was an itinerant, much-lived life, a Yankee Florida liberal Jewish Tough Gal who bowled 'em in Japan, rolled 'em in North Carolina and was a singularly unique parent.

That's just a small snippet of Renay's life story, any sentence of which would make a good pull quote. Renay Corren led a full life of losing money, throwing caution to the wind, traveling, swearing, lying, and producing a large number of descendants. Her adventures include a rumored affair with broadcaster Larry King in the 1960s. Readers are encouraged to remember Renay by pulling on a slot machine or playing blackjack. You can read this amazing obituary in its entirety at the Fayetteville Observer. -via Fark

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is not a Christmas song, but like "Jingle Bells" and "Winter Wonderland," we only hear it at Christmastime because of the snow mentioned in the lyrics. And speaking of lyrics, those are what make people argue about the song. In its first few decades, it was just a flirty song that echoed the way romance was done at the time. Eventually it started to become clear how problematic those lyrics are.

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” was written in 1944 by Broadway songsmith Frank Loesser, and he and his wife performed it as a novelty song at parties, where other guests loved it. You can see why no one back then would think twice about a married couple singing the song to get a laugh. But then it went to the movies. By the 21st century it was known as the date rape song, with the man coercing the woman to stay all night with him and her wondering what was in her drink.

But while we've come a long way in "how romance is done" since the 1940s, some of the lyrics in the 77-year-old song didn't mean what modern audiences think they did. Get an explanation of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" at Mental Floss.

It's been almost ten years since we were treated to the delightful insights of Kirby Ferguson (previously at Neatorama) and his series Everything is a Remix. We're glad to see he's resurrecting that series for 2021. Episode one was an introduction to the idea that everything is remix. It's quite long, but very interesting.

This video, which is part two, is about movies, but it's also about memes and how they eventually become remixes themselves. To do that, Ferguson explains what memes have in common with the rest of our pop culture. They are all copied from copies, because we like what's familiar, and we like to know what to expect. That's just human nature. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, because copying and remixing what we find good will eventually produce something truly creative, whether it's a meme, a movie, a TV show, or some other form of art.

-via Laughing Squid

The subreddit AITA is one of reddit's most popular, or at least viral. It stands for "Am I the asshole?" in which users present a situation and other redditors pass judgement. Someone using a throwaway account (u/throwawayorangecat) posted a truly unique situation that you have to read. We assume that all names have been changed. Their workplace has two cats, Jorts and Jean. Jean is a female tortoiseshell cat who is friendly, smart, and normal. Jorts is a big male orange cat who is friendly, but can't even figure out how to open a door when it's ajar. Pam is a co-worker who took it upon herself to "teach" Jorts how to open a door and generally get along in life.

Don’t get me wrong— watching her try to teach Jorts how to walk through a door is hilarious, but Jean got locked in the closet twice last week. Yesterday I installed a cat cutout thing in the door and Pam started getting really huffy. I made a gentle joke about “you can’t expect Jean’s tortoiseshell smarts from orange cat Jorts” which made Pam FURIOUS. She started crying and left the hallway, then sent an email to the group (including volunteers) and went home early.

In her email Pam said I was “perpetuating ethnic stereotypes by saying orange cats are dumb” and is demanding a racial sensitivity training before she will return.

At that point, u/throwawayorangecat posted the question at reddit. Then u/throwawayorangecat got called in by Human Resources. In an update to the story, we found that they managed to smooth things over and set some boundaries, but more details emerged that show u/throwawayorangecat was not the only one who considers Jorts really dumb, and that Pam was trying some weird and misguided things with the cat. The original poster is to apologize to Jorts, get him a cat bed, and make sure that Jorts' avatar is changed from a sweet potato to a picture of the cat. The whole story is just plain hilarious.

Do it for me. https://t.co/fA2ESmW571

— Jorts (and Jean) (@JortsTheCat) December 15, 2021

I love this poem https://t.co/5DccCH3Fwr

— Jorts (and Jean) (@JortsTheCat) December 15, 2021

These posts sent Jorts trending on Twitter, and u/throwawayorangecat started a Twitter account for Jorts. -via Metafilter

The Fermi Paradox states that the odds are overwhelmingly against the notion that the earth is the only place that life exists in the universe. But if there are others out there, why haven't we found them, or why haven't they found us? Maybe they are hiding. Maybe they are afraid of us. After all, considering our science fiction stories, it's obvious that we are afraid of intelligent beings from other planets. But beyond fiction, there's always the possibility that successful alien life forms may be like us. And that's terrifying.

This video from Kurzgesagt goes through the steps to explain why an alien civilization may avoid approaching us due to the same trepidation that people feel for other people that they don't already know. That's not limited to intelligent beings, either, as the lower species in our own world can be awfully dangerous to each other as well. Meanwhile, we keep sending out probes and radio signals hoping to contact alien beings. We may be way too naive and trusting in these projects. -via Damn Interesting

Who's your favorite villain- the one we all love to hate? Who's your favorite Christmas villain? Put them together and you've got one weird but unforgettable mashup. We always knew Vader had a heart three sizes too small. Hoodwinked Toys combined Darth Vader and the Grinch for this one-of-a-kind Christmas toy. Yes, it's unique, there was only one, and it's already been sold. They could have sold hundreds if they were mass produced. However, you might be interested in some of their other action figures available, like the chocolate chip Wookiee. Still, I kinda would like to see the Chewie Lou Who, even though I know he doesn't exist.  -via Boing Boing

You're a mean one, Mr. Sith!

The Miss Universe pageant was held Sunday in Israel. Miss India, Harnaaz Sandhu, was crowned the winner. While people debate the very idea of beauty pageants for many reasons, one thing we can agree on is that the most entertaining part of the global pageant is the parade of national costumes. As I see it, they fall into three categories: a nice gown designed to make the contestant look good, an over-the-top Vegas showgirl-style contraption, and a costume that actually tries to convey something about the represented nation. Miss Malta, Jade Cini pictured above, is an example of having to carry a lot of national hardware. Miss Iceland represents the  latter category.

I like the costume worn by Miss Iceland, Elisa Groa Steinþorsdottir. The theme is the volcanoes of Iceland, and that's fairly obvious without her having to carry an extraneous structure. In addition to these categories, which sometimes blended into each other, the pageant saw some specific political messages from Miss Ireland and Miss Finland. Miss France channeled Josephine Baker in her costume. There were a few costumes that actually approximated historic dress from their nation's past. And of course, some that make you wonder what they were thinking. See a gallery of all 69 national costumes from the Miss Universe pageant at Buzzfeed.

Gingerbread is a confection that uses the classic "pumpkin spice" spices. But gingerbread men and gingerbread houses are a Christmas thing. The more you look, the more Christmas traditions you find, many of them having nothing at all to do with the birth of Christ or Santa Claus or even the solstice. It's like we threw all possible traditions in a bucket and eventually got rid of the ones we didn't like.

Long-time Neatoramanauts know about this one, as we posted the movie for your viewing pleasure in 2012. So what's the deal with a white Christmas, wrapping paper, and the Rockefeller Christmas tree? Cracked titled their latest pictofacts article 13 Unexpected Origins of Christmas Traditions, but many of them are just weird facts about the customs that surround Christmas. You'll learn something either way.

Don't you just hate when fans try to one-up each other? They call it gatekeeping. You can't be a real fan unless you know as much about Star Wars (or any other fandom) as I do! It's not a competition; it's supposed to be something we can enjoy. Yeah, this can apply to any fandom, but Star Wars is notorious for having way too many fans that not only hate other fans, but hate Star Wars itself.

This skit starts out angering us for just that. Rowan considers himself a knowledgeable and therefore "real" Star Wars fan, and he wants Ellie to admit she isn't a "real" fan because she can't possibly know what she needs to know everything about Star Wars. Then it's funny, because it's carried to a ridiculous degree. Then there's a twist. You don't want to miss it, in this skit from Viva La Dirt League. I know there's an old adage that applies here; probably several of them. -via Geeks Are Sexy

Mel Brooks was born in 1926, the same year as Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth. After serving in World War II, Brooks worked as a standup comedian, then a comedy writer for radio, Broadway, TV, and movies. He produced, directed, wrote, and/or acted in a series of films we will never forget, including The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Spaceballs. He released a memoir this year, titled All About Me. Brooks revealed one of his secrets to success in an interview at The New Yorker.

I’d learned one very simple trick: say yes. Simply say yes. Like Joseph E. Levine, on “The Producers,” said, “The curly-haired guy—he’s funny looking. Fire him.” He wanted me to fire Gene Wilder. And I said, “Yes, he’s gone. I’m firing him.” I never did. But he forgot. After the screening of “Blazing Saddles,” the head of Warner Bros. threw me into the manager’s office, gave me a legal pad and a pencil, and gave me maybe twenty notes. He would have changed “Blazing Saddles” from a daring, funny, crazy picture to a stultified, dull, dusty old Western. He said, “No farting.” I said, “It’s out”… You say yes, and you never do it.

Kottke has an overview of the recent coverage of Mel Brooks' life and career that's really worth a look.

Wherever there is snow, there are snowball fights. They may be widely separated by time and distance, but when the snow blankets the ground, people want to play with it. Even a child with no elders instructing them will figure out that snow can be molded into a relatively soft ball for a short time, just perfect for throwing at someone.

Snowball fights are fun enough to be the subject of art, beginning around 1400 AD. These early artworks used snowball fights to depict the month of December or January in calendars, called The Book of Hours at the time. Snowball fights have also been used for comedy and political cartoons, and even to illustrate real fights that had some importance. See a gallery of 47 snowball fights depicted in art from all over the world (except the tropics) at The Public Domain review. You'll also get anecdotes about some of the more important snowball fights in history.  -via Nag on the Lake