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Zooey Deschanel posted this holiday duet she did with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The two starred together in the 2009 movie 500 Days of Summer, and have been friends even longer than that. -Thanks, Bicycle Bill!

Barrett-Jackson Auctions has a car for sale with some history behind it. There were many '69 Dodge Chargers used in the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard, but this particular General Lee was the one you saw jump every week in the show's introduction (55 seconds into this video).

Featured several times in the first episode of CBS hit "The Dukes of Hazzard." Fondly named "Lee 1" is the very car used to jump over a Hazzard County police cruiser in the first episode. Carefully restored over a 16 month period to pre-jump condition.

Lee 1 was purchased by a California movie studio in 1978, soon to become "The most famous television car in the world." Lee 1 was featured several times in the first episode of CBS' hit television series "The Dukes of Hazzard." This episode titled "One-Armed Bandits," aired on January 26, 1979 and was filmed in the Covington, Conyers and Oxford area of Georgia. The show's opening sequence, featuring Bo and Luke Duke, included the clip of Lee1 jumping over a Hazzard County police cruiser. That jump, for which Lee 1 is most famous, was made by a stunt man on the campus of Oxford College on Saturday 11, 1978. Lee 1's first and only jump was 16 feet up and over the cruiser, landing 82 feet from the take off ramp. The only cast member that ever drove Lee 1 was John Schneider, who played Bo Duke. After 23 years in a junkyard, in Metro Atlanta, Lee 1 was rescued and professionally, passionately restored to pre-jump condition over a 16 month period. Lee 1 is truly an American Icon.

See plenty more pictures of the car at the auction site. Link -via Fark

We've come to the very last day of the year 2011, a time to look back and think about what a year it's been. Neatorama had a great year, and that is the result of the participation of a lot of people! Many thanks to all you Neatoramanauts, those who visited this site, and to those who entered our contests, submitted links, tweeted our stories, linked to us, emailed our links, and left comments. Thanks to those who purchased items from the NeatoShop. Thanks to everyone who joined us at our social networking sites this year. Thanks to Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, The Annals of Improbable Research, and mental_floss for allowing us to share their articles. Thanks to the people at our partner sites and friend sites. Thanks to the creative folks who gave us material all over the internet worth linking to. And thanks to the authors, technicians, administrators, guest authors, contributors, and the many others who work behind the scenes to bring you Neatorama every day. I got a wonderful New Year wish from Eddie Deezen that I will share with all of you: "May the happiest days of your past be equal to the saddest days of your future."

Meanwhile, it is a holiday weekend, so you might have some time to catch up on the good stuff we posted this week. Jill gave us a timely post that might come in handy for your celebrations: 10 Fun Ways to Ring In The New Year.

She also gave us Failed Flavors Of Popular Snack Foods.

Edifice Complex was from the newest volume of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

The Annals of Improbable Research documented The Coming and Going of Cello Scrotum.

And 4 Amazing Powers of Chili Peppers was republished from mental_floss magazine.

In the What Is It? game this week, the object in question is a Holmes Steering Gear Clamp for towing automobiles (an antique). Aaron Rosen was the first commenter who knew what it was for, but he did not select a shirt. TDM had the funniest answer: A clothespin for chain-mail! For that, TDM wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop. You’ll find the answers to all this week’s mystery items posted at the What Is It? blog.

Over at NeatoBambino, we've had a rash of adorable child meme images posted this week, including this badass little girl walking away from an explosion -without looking back, of course. (Could this be a metaphor for the New Year holiday?) You'll find cute kid videos, too, in addition to the normal news, information, and child product reviews at NeatoBambino.

If you haven't checked out our Twitter feed or Facebook page or G+ site yet, this weekend would be a good time to do that! You'll find plenty of "extras" that don't get posted at the main site, plus active communities of Neatoramanauts with their contributions.

As we say goodbye to the year past, an easy way to look back on 2011 is to go to The Best of Neatorama, where our feature articles are archived by year for your reading pleasure. You can select a year with the slider at the top of the page. I recommend starting with 2011.

The next logical thing is to look forward to a great 2012! We have some improvements in the works that I know you'll like, but we will still be bringing you new, interesting, and just plain "neat" stuff, so I sincerely hope you will join us every day of 2012!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM NEATORAMA!

Take Oreo cookies, put them on a stick, dip them in candy, and stick the homemade chocolate numbers on top! Well, these cookie pops aren't quite that easy, but you can get directions from Jill at Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons so you can make your own before New Year party time! Link

 

(YouTube link) Some people still think the world will end in 2012, because that's where the Maya calendar ends. C.G.P. Grey explains how that strange idea came about. An even simpler explanation came from Dan Pirraro a couple of years ago. If this goes too fast for you, the script is at Grey's website. http://blog.cgpgrey.com/2012/ -via The Daily What

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Have you got a calendar for the new year yet? The calendar we use might not be all that rational, but we are quite used to it. This video from Jeremiah Warren will help you understand how our calendar came about. -via The Daily What

I'm not usually good at this sort of thing, but I looked at the 1980s Film Alphabet and could name all the movies! Yes, even Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is under "I", for the character, I guess. This is a creation of artist Stephen Wildish. Link -via Laughing Squid

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I grew up during the Cold War, with an image of Moscow as a drab, grey, cold, Soviet citadel. But the Cold War has been over for 20 years! This video shows the city as beautiful and colorful, both historical and modern. -via Everlasting Blort

Norway's hockey team appears to have a secret weapon in the form of an invisible player! But no, that's Ole Kristian Tellefsen, getting into a tussle with Finland's Petteri Nokelainen last May. This strange picture is part of Sports Illustrated's gallery of Pictures of the Year. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1112/pictures-of-the-year/content.39.html -via reddit

(Image credit: Imago/ZUMAPRESS.com)

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It's the opposite of the "fail" videos! As you're waiting for something to go wrong, it turns out just right in these video clips. -via BroBible

Urban exploration takes a turn toward the world’s oldest profession! Take a tour -safely- through a photo gallery of bygone houses of ill repute in Spain, South Korea, and the USA. The outsides may look plain, but the inside pictures display a decaying gaudiness that tells the story of what once went on in these businesses. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Jitze Couperus)

I spent a year of college teaching rats to find their way through a maze, and now I find that slime molds, which don't even have brains, can do the same thing! Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki of Japan's Future University Hakodate studies slime molds, which organize their colonies of cells to move toward a food source, using the most direct route.

"Humans are not the only living things with information-processing abilities," he said. "Simple creatures can solve certain kinds of difficult puzzles. If you want to spotlight the essence of life or intelligence, it's easier to use these simple creatures."

The research in slime mold organization may lead to information-processing breakthroughs, including the possibility of biocomputers. Link -via Arbroath

(Image credit: Flickr user Sentrawoods)

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On the one hand, it appears amazing that we sacrifice expensive electronics for the amusement of our cats. On the other hand, I know how easy it is to accumulate obsolete computer equipment that may not function as originally intended, but will still amuse the cat. Which, in turn, amuses us! -via Tastefully Offensive

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A little something to play while you kiss your sweetie, celebrate with friends, and drink a toast to the year ahead. Those of you who aren't in the U.S. Eastern time zone, you can play this video at whatever time you find appropriate. May the new year be your best yet! -via Buzzfeed

Professor Stephen Hawking is looking for an assistant. Originally, the job was to be for a technician who can maintain and troubleshoot his computerized voice system -and that's still the most important part of the job description.

An informal job ad posted to the famed physicist's website said the assistant should be computer literate, ready to travel, and able to repair electronic devices "with no instruction manual or technical support."

Hawking has long struggled against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease which left him almost completely paralyzed.

He lost his real voice in a tracheotomy in 1985, but a wheelchair-mounted computer helps synthesize speech by interpreting the twitches of his face. The synthesizer's robotic monotone has become nearly as famous as Hawking himself, but the computer — powered by batteries fastened to the back of Hawking's wheelchair — isn't just for speaking.

It can connect to the Internet over cell phone networks and a universal infrared remote enables the physicist to switch on the lights, watch television, or open doors either at home or at the office.

The updated job description also says the assistant will help with travel arrangements, lecture preparations, and dealing with the press. Travel is required. The position is funded by the University of Cambridge. Link to story. http://www.hawking.org.uk/index.php/component/content/article/96 to job description. -Thanks, Shaun!