Hmm, looks like a baby deer calls for his mama with a "meep!" This is just too cute not to share. -via Buzzfeed
Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
We admit it, Admiral, it WAS a trap -and you got caught in it! Admiral Ackbar ends up as a wall trophy in Darth Vader's man cave. I would so want one of these if my kids wouldn't press the button constantly. Link
Game of Thrones fans will love the new scent inspired by the HBO series, and by the book series it is based upon, A Song of Ice and Fire. Fire and Blood perfume combines the scents of "Sweet Green Grass, Smoke, Violet, Dragon's Blood (Amber, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Musk, Exotic Florals, Spices), Leather" and comes in a dragon egg-shaped bottle. Link
See also: more information.
The World BASE Race is not a race to the top, but to the bottom: 2,500 feet down a cliff! BASE jumpers from all over the world come to Rauma, Norway, to don wingsuits and compete, or just to watch. Unlike other BASE jumping competitions, this one is based on speed, with the winner being the one fastest to reach the bottom of the course in one piece. Read more about the race and see plenty of photographs at Environmental Graffiti. Link
(Image credit: Ivar Brennhovd)
After filmmaker James Cameron set a depth record for exploring the Marianna Trench and Jeff Bezos found the engines from Apollo 11, entrepreneur Richard Branson felt a need to do something even more spectacular. The head of Virgin galactic is preparing to launch a journey to the center of the earth! The new company Virgin Volcanic, an offshoot of Virgin Galactic, has developed a vehicle called the VVS1.
Virgin Volcanic hopes to launch the first expedition in 2015. This new technology may lead to a new method of transportation in which people will travel through the earth instead of around it. Link -via Arbroath
See also: More information.
Using patented carbon-carbon materials pioneered for deep space exploration, Virgin is proud to announce a revolutionary new vehicle, VVS1, which will be capable of plunging three people into the molten lava core of an active volcano.
In its first three years of operation, VVS1 will target the five most active volcanoes in the world: Etna, Stromboli, Yasur, Ambrym and Tinakula.
Sir Richard Branson will go on the first expedition along with Black Eyed Peas recording artist and science enthusiast will.i.am and actor/producer Seth Green.
Virgin Volcanic hopes to launch the first expedition in 2015. This new technology may lead to a new method of transportation in which people will travel through the earth instead of around it. Link -via Arbroath
See also: More information.
The Onion, as most of you know, is a satirical news site that publishes fictional news stories that hits uncomfortably close to home. Every once in a while, some news outlet unknowingly uses it as a source, with major embarrassment to follow. Once the story hits a legitimate news site, it spreads like wildfire before its fictional roots catch up with it. Hundreds of people couldn't wait to tell all their Facebook friends about this one:
And it doesn't have to be April Fools Day -you always have to look out for a possible Onion source. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user Afraid of Ducks)
Possibly the greatest article confusion was over Planned Parenthood’s alleged $8 billion “Abortionplex.” The article included such gems as a banner reading “No Life is Sacred” and quotes from PP’s president:
“The Abortionplex’s high-tech machinery is capable of terminating one pregnancy every three seconds…That’s almost a million abortions every month. We’re so thrilled!”
The article went viral, in part because of how many people thought it was real. It was this article that led to the creation of Literally Unbelievable. So if you read the article in May of 2011 during the debate over the funding of Planned Parenthood, and you weren’t familiar with The Onion, it might be a tiny bit understandable if you got confused.
And it doesn't have to be April Fools Day -you always have to look out for a possible Onion source. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user Afraid of Ducks)
Here's a rundown of the most famous hoaxes in history. They fooled a lot of people in their time, but we can't say we're smarter than those folks now. The hoaxers are always one step ahead in finding ways to fool us! -via the Presurfer
Ivo Zdarsky escaped from Communist Czechoslovakia in 1984 by building his own airplane and flying to Austria in the middle of the night. Since then, he moved the the US and bought a ghost town. Lucin, Utah, has no other residents anymore. Zdarsky lives alone in an airplane hangar, where he makes airplane propellors for a living. He flies to Ogden for groceries or to Salt Lake City to see his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Zdarsky is living large in the ultimate man cave.
Read more about Zdarsky and his one-man town at The New York Times. Link -via reddit
(Image credit: John Burcham for The New York Times)
His home is divided into two 50-by-50-foot areas: one is for his planes, the other is his living space (the bathroom is a separate room). “I notice most people have a house which is usually smaller than my room,” Mr. Zdarsky says. “And inside this house is a bunch of little rooms, called bedroom, living room, whatever. If they want to do something on a computer you have to go in one room, you go to eat in another room. I have just one room, and I can watch the TV here, watch the computer here, eat here, and it is not claustrophobic.”
He points at one of the motorized hinged hangar doors, which can lift 10 feet off the ground. “If I need a bigger window, I can lift this.”
Read more about Zdarsky and his one-man town at The New York Times. Link -via reddit
(Image credit: John Burcham for The New York Times)
The NCAA basketball tournament has reached the Final Four, the top four teams who will play each other today. I am inwardly excited that two of the four teams are from my home state (take that, Duke)! To get you ready, Buzzfeed has the most important tournament topics people are talking about, explained by adorable little Corgis. Link
Norwegian adventurer Aleksander Gamme spent three months in 2011-2012 skiing to the South Pole solo. On day 86, he reached a stash of supplies, and was delighted to find cheese doodles and chocolate. You might think his joy is a bit over-the-top, but I tend to act the same way when I find forgotten chocolate candy. Link
English translation. Link
Gamme also has an AMA (ask me anything) thread at reddit. Link
English translation. Link
Gamme also has an AMA (ask me anything) thread at reddit. Link
Yep, it's another holiday weekend, as tomorrow is April Fool's Day. But what do you do when it falls on a Sunday? In the last couple of decades, I see people tending to stretch holidays across several days to extend the fun, so why not this one as well? Pranks all weekend long, pranks on Monday, and maybe even into Tuesday. All the better to totally fool someone, you know! Still, think before you prank, because there's a limit to how far you can go before you cause irreparable harm to a physical body, job prospects, your credibility, or a relationship. The safe way to celebrate is to enjoy other people's pranks and hoaxes. At the end of this post, you'll find a list of Neatorama feature articles about pranks, hoaxes, and tricks from history. And here are the features from this week you might need to catch up on:
John Farrier found 14 Facts You Might Not Know about Mission: Impossible.
Jill Harness brought us back pictures of 35 Great Costumes From WonderCon.
The Magna Carta filled us in on the history of the document, courtesy of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.
Ig® Nobel Limericks: Slime, Nation, Beer came to us from The Annals of Improbable Research.
And mental_floss magazine gave us 4 Winning Moments in Gym Class History.
Over at NeatoBambino, the Decipher the Doodle contest is Back! Take your best shot at interpreting a drawing by a 5-year-old and win a t-shirt from the NeatoShop!
In the What Is It game this week,the mystery item is a miner’s plummet, the lighted wick was sighted with a transit by surveyors when doing layout work in dark mine shafts. Steve Pauk knew that, and wins a t-shirt for his efforts! The prize for the funniest answer goes to pismonque for this quip: “Commemorative souvenir torch necklace from the 1928 Summer Olympics. Didn’t really catch on because it tended to catch on.” And we also found that everyone loves to say (or type) the words “plumb bob.” Thanks to all who played this week! Find out the answers to all this week’s items at the What Is It? blog.
For April Fool's Day
From the archives, I recommend Non-Foolery on April Fools’ Day. It's a look back at real news stories that no one believed because they happened on April Fools Day! And we have plenty of articles about historical pranks and hoaxes and foolishness you may enjoy.
Hippo Eats Dwarf: Phony Technology
Five Hoaxes that Fooled the World
Six More Hoaxes That Fooled the World
7 Great Sports Scams, Scandals, and Hoaxes
The Great Moon Hoax
Really Successful People Who Never Actually Existed
The Newspaper Hoax that Shook the World
Human Oil (and Other Hoaxes)
Joey Skaggs, The Ultimate Hoax Meister
Remember, you can also get more Neatorama goodness by joining us in the social networking world. That means Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and now Pinterest!
Robert Wilkinson had a little too much and decided the back of a squad car was the perfect place for karaoke. How did he remember the whole song in that condition?! This happened in Edson, Alberta last November. Wilkinson was given a copy of the video to use in his defense, and he uploaded it to YouTube himself. Link -Thanks, Graeme and all those who submitted this today!
This is not a new trick, but since silk ties in loud colors are abundant at thrift shops, it's a good time to try out a new-to-you egg-dying method. Wrap a patterned silk tie around an egg, boil it good, and see the colorful results! Complete instructions (with pictures) are at Mommy Knows. Link -via TYWKIWDBI
Every gag about clouds you can fit into a 45-second video is here in this cute animation from German producers we think things. -via Laughing Squid
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