If you leave your kitchen window open, you must expect to have encounters like this every so often. Maybe next time you buy Tupperware, you should check the label to make sure the seal is squirrel-resistant. -via Arbroath
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George Lucas’ new movie Red Tails open today, about the exploits of the unit known as the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. Before you see it, read the real story of Tuskegee Airman Dr. Roscoe Brown.
Brown also talks about how he came to be a pilot, some close calls, and the indignities the Airmen endured in the military. Link
“The most difficult part is something that the movie refers to: overcoming the negative beliefs about blacks that we couldn’t do certain things. Our training was relatively fair; however, once we went into combat, initially they didn’t want us to be in the high-responsibility positions escorting the bombers. Once they realized they were losing so many bombers, they wanted as many people as possible to escort them; we were given that mission, and we did it extremely well. Then, once people began to hear about us, they said, ‘We want those guys, they’re really good!’ We were probably as good as many of the white pilots, but many of the white pilots would leave the bombers and shoot down planes to become heroes; our commander insisted that we stay with the bombers, which is why the bombers would like seeing our Red Tails flying over them.
Brown also talks about how he came to be a pilot, some close calls, and the indignities the Airmen endured in the military. Link
(YouTube link)President Obama welcomed Rev. Al Green to a fundraiser at the Apollo Theater in New York yesterday with a few notes of "Let's Stay Together." It sounds like this was the result of a dare, but it's still nice to know our Commander in Chief can carry a tune for at least a short time. Link -via Buzzfeed
We've shown you Canine Musical Freestyle competitions and Bunny Show Jumping competitions, and now we have Feline Agility Competitions, too! In this video, a 5-week old Tonkinese kitten named Jumpin Jack Flash starts his training. He's already got a blue ribbon in "adorable." Find out more about these competitions from the Cat Fanciers Association. Link -via Buzzfeed
This is not the first picture you've seen of the Helix Nebula, but it's the best image so far. The Helix Nebula is a cloud of gas that was left when a star expired 700 light years away from us.
This image is in the near-infrared, taken using the European Southern Observatory’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), a 4.1 meter telescope in Chile. Equipped with a whopping 67 megapixel camera it can take pictures of large areas of the sky. The Helix nebula fits that bill: it’s close enough to us that it’s nearly the size of the full Moon in the sky.
You are right, this would make an awesome desktop wallpaper! You can download the huge version if you like, and get more details about the
(Image credit: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson/Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit)
The Awl has some great charts detailing how the common cold is transferred, profiling the one guy who infects your entire workplace, and a flow chart to determine whether you will catch a cold. That's in addition to these handy tips for avoiding a cold. Link -via Nag on the Lake
Peter Stevens of Cambridge, England, was in his car Friday when a thief opened up the back door and grabbed his laptop.
The thief, who Stevens believes is much younger than he is, has not been caught, but Stevens put his money where his mouth is.
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Theft-victim-who-caught-up-with-crook-concerned-about-youth-fitness-17012012.htm -via Arbroath
The 34-year-old runner and IT expert chased him and was surprised when he caught up with the thief after just 225 metres.
Realising the game was up, the puffed-out criminal dropped the laptop, allowing Mr Stevens to pick it up.
Mr Stevens said: “I was appalled by how unfit this guy was. I thought it would take a lot longer to catch up with him. If you are going to go into the snatch-and-run business at least try and get fit or at least play to your strengths and go for something less energetic.”
The thief, who Stevens believes is much younger than he is, has not been caught, but Stevens put his money where his mouth is.
The next day Mr Stevens made a donation to a charity which promotes fitness.
He said: “I made a small donation at Milton Country Park to Cambridge Parkrun to help encourage youngsters to get fit. They seem to need all the help they can get.”
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Theft-victim-who-caught-up-with-crook-concerned-about-youth-fitness-17012012.htm -via Arbroath
Former county commissioner Jimmy Dimora is on trial in Akron, Ohio, for corruption. Channel 19 is covering the trial, but are not allowed to take cameras into the federal courtroom. So they did the next best thing -or some would call a better thing- and recreated the court scenes using puppets! This video is day two. You can also see day one at WOIO. Link -via Fark
Huggie is bothered not only by the decline of his South Philadelphia neighborhood, but also by the numerous signs posted by shady businesses that prey on desperate residents who are strapped for cash.
As a street artist, I decided to fight back against the blight by creating my own humorous bandit signs and posting them up around the city. I am aware that I might be contributing to the blight as well, but I really hope that my signs make people realize how ridiculous these advertisers are and help them take pride in their community. And if that doesn’t work, I hope it makes them laugh.
See more signs at his blog, Gorilla Upskirts. Link
If you wrote a song about your life, you'd include your favorite things. Australian 8-year-old Juliet made a song about how she loves her dog, Robert. The music video is charming. See it at NeatoBambino. Link
Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston and the Boston Art Commission plan to erect a statue honoring Edgar Allan Poe, and they've narrowed down the design submissions to three finalists.
The finalists were selected from a pool of 265 artists from 42 states and 13 countries who submitted their qualifications for consideration. Working with the Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston, the Boston Art Commission will oversee the installation of the public artwork in Edgar Allan Poe Square, the city-owned plaza located at the southeast corner of Boylston Street and Charles Street South between Park Square and Boston Common.
The artists are Jennifer Bonner and her teammate architect Christian Stayner, both of Los Angeles; Ann Hirsch of Cambridge and her teammate Boston architect Robert Olson; and Stefanie Rocknak of Oneonta, New York. Their design proposals were first presented by the artists on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012, at the Campus Center of Emerson College (150 Boylston St., four doors east of Poe Square). The proposed concepts will be presented once again at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square by project manager Jean Mineo on Thursday, January 19, 2012, the 203rd birthday of the Boston-born Poe.
The design shown is by sculptor Stefanie Rocknak. See them all and read the artist's statements at the project site. Or, if you're in Boston, see them at the library today! Link -Thanks, J.W. Ocker!
Edgar Allan Poe fans waited after midnight this morning at the cemetery in Baltimore where the author is buried, but for the third year in a row, no "Poe Toaster" showed up. For around 70 years, a mysterious person visited Poe's grave on the morning of January 19th, Poe's birth date.
Poe House and Museum Curator Jeff Jerome said early Thursday that die-hard fans waited hours past when the tribute bearer normally arrives. But the "Poe Toaster" was a no-show for a third year in a row, leaving another unanswered question in a mystery worthy of the writer's legacy. Poe fans had said they would hold one last vigil this year before calling an end to the tradition. "It's over with," Jerome said wearily. "It will probably hit me later, but I'm too tired now to feel anything else." It is thought that the tributes of an anonymous man wearing black clothes with a white scarf and a wide-brimmed hat, who leaves three roses and a half-empty bottle of cognac at Poe's original grave on the writer's birthday, date to at least the 1940s. Late Wednesday, a crowd gathered outside the gates of the burial ground surrounding Westminster Hall to watch for the mysterious visitor, yet only three impersonators appeared, Jerome said.
The author was born in 1809 and died 40 years later. Link -via Fark (Image credit: AP)
Brainstorm Digital clues us in on how they provide effects for television, specifically for the second season of Boardwalk Empire. And it's not all "special" effects, either. Productions now can do away with makeup, props, and even sets! It's all computer magic. Warning: may cause disillusionment. -Thanks, özi!
Volkswagen unveils their Super Bowl ad campaign. If you sold cars and were going to advertise during a football game, it only makes sense that you would feature dogs barking the Imperial March. Makes perfect sense! -via reddit
Luc Bergeron, known as Zapatou, mixed 71 different cover versions of the song "Rolling in the Deep" to make this video. There are a lot of talented young people on YouTube. -via The Daily What
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