Of course you want to visit Pandora! We all do! But since it's a fictional planet, maybe the next best thing would be to visit the location where Avatar was filmed. You can do that, because it was in the Keahua Arboretum in Hawaii. The arboretum is chock-full of lush and exotic plant life, just like Pandora -without the Na'vi or the man-eating monsters. Find out eleven more locations where your favorite sci-fi movies were shot at TravelSupermarket. http://www.travelsupermarket.com/blog/12-sci-fi-film-locations-you-can-actually-visit/ -Thanks, Danny!
Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
Of course you want to visit Pandora! We all do! But since it's a fictional planet, maybe the next best thing would be to visit the location where Avatar was filmed. You can do that, because it was in the Keahua Arboretum in Hawaii. The arboretum is chock-full of lush and exotic plant life, just like Pandora -without the Na'vi or the man-eating monsters. Find out eleven more locations where your favorite sci-fi movies were shot at TravelSupermarket. http://www.travelsupermarket.com/blog/12-sci-fi-film-locations-you-can-actually-visit/ -Thanks, Danny!
As part of a continuing series, Geeks Are Sexy posted a roundup of tattoos sent in by their readers. Kristina contributed her tattoo of Nikola Tesla. There are lots more, including many that are so geeky I don't recognize them, but you might! Link
The town of Júzcar in the Spanish province of Andalucía got an offer they couldn't refuse. Sony Pictures approached the village for an opportunity to promote the 2011 movie The Smurfs. Would the citizens be willing to have their whitewashed homes and public buildings painted blue? The local government would receive a nice cash payment, and the buildings would be painted twice -once blue, and then restored to their original white. It was a win-win situation. But... the villagers and tourists liked it so much that Júzcar will remain blue! See lots of pictures of blue Júzcar at Kuriositas. Link -Thanks, RJ!
(Image credit: Flickr user manuelfloresv)
(YouTube link)
Pete (the monkey) watched Louis (the man) washing dishes at an animal sanctuary in Bolivia. Pete learned fast! Read more about Pete and the baby he is "babysitting" at Amazing Stuff. http://amazingstuff.co.uk/nature/amazing-monkey-washing-up/ -Thanks, Duncan!
Once again, it's time for our collaboration with the always amusing What Is It? Blog! Do you know what the object in this picture is?
Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many as you'd like. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. Two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will each win a T-shirt from the NeatoShop.
Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize, okay? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?
Check out the What Is It? Blog for an additional picture. Good luck!
Update: the mystery object is a A Yankee Cork Press, for compressing corks to the proper size to fit into a bottle. Just a Guess? had the right answer before anyone else, and so wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! Kevin George had the funniest answer: "That's the famous scuplture "Desert Cowskull" by the steampunk impressionist Nemo Remington." That deserves a t-shirt, too! You can see the answers to all this week's mystery items at the What Is It? blog.
(YouTube link)
You might think you've seen enough computerized Christmas lights by now... and I wouldn't blame you. But this is an actual game. Angry Birds, to be precise. Former Disney Imagineer Ric Turner turned his house into the game with 20,000 lights, an FM audio channel, and controller that people can use to play from their cars! -via The Daily What
Now, here's a year-end list we can get behind! They didn't change the world, and they're not technically all from 2011, but those are little things we can overlook while enjoying some sweet, funny, and crazy cat videos and pictures. Take a guess as to where Shiro, the chill cat in the middle shown here was ranked. Link -via the Presurfer
(YouTube link)
The 1966 TV show intro recreated, to the smallest detail, in LEGO bricks! For comparison purposes, here is the original. (via Buzzfeed)
(YouTube link)
Office workers critique a construction crew trying to corral a runaway concrete buffing machine. This really, really needs some Yakety Sax. -via Buzzfeed
The following article is reprinted from The Best of Uncle John' Bathroom Reader.
Ever wonder how the Santa Claus of 21st-century Christmas lore came about? Here's the story of how an almost completely unknown bishop became the most recognized holiday character in Western civilization.
A MAN NAMED NICHOLAS
In the fourth century A.D., a man named Nicholas became the bishop of a village called Myra in what is now Turkey.
That's all we know about him.
Nevertheless, Bishop Nicholas of Myra was later canonized and went on to become the most popular saint in all of Christianity. He is the guardian saint of Russia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Norway, and Greece. He is the patron saint of children, virgins, pawnbrokers, pirates, thieves, brewers, pilgrims, fishermen, barrel makers, dyers, butchers, meatpackers, and haberdashers. He has more churches named after him than any of the apostles. And he has evolved into one of the best-known characters in the world -the fat, jolly, red-suited Santa Claus who delivers presents on Christmas Eve, St. Nick.
How did it happen? It took centuries.
MAKING A SAINT
It's a pretty safe guess that the real Nicholas of Myra was a kind and generous man, because most of the legends attributed to him describe kind acts toward children. Here are two of the most famous:
1. The Three Daughters. Nicholas was walking past a house when he overheard a man telling his three daughters that he was selling them into prostitution because he didn't have enough money for the dowries that would make them desirable wives. Later that night, Nicholas snuck back to the house and threw a bag of gold through a window. He did the same thing the following night, and then again a third night, providing enough gold for all three daughter's dowries. (According to a later version of the story, one of the bags landed in a stocking that was hung out to dry over a fireplace.)
Because of this, he became the patron saint of young brides and unmarried women. And because he delivered financial aid at a time when the girls needed it the most, pawnbrokers made him their patron saint. To this day, the symbol of the pawnbroker trade is three balls of gold -a spinoff of St. Nick's three bags of gold.
2. The Three Boys. For centuries, it was common to paint St. Nicholas holding his three bags of gold. But not every artist painted them well ...and at some point during the Middle Ages, artist painting new pictures of the saint began mistaking the bags for three human heads. To explain this image, a second legend evolved. According to this tale, St. Nicholas checked into an inn during a terrible famine and was surprised when the innkeeper served him meat -which had been unobtainable for months- for dinner. Suspecting the worst, Nicholas snuck down into the cellar and found the pickled bodies of three murdered young boys floating in a barrel. He restored the boys to life and helped them escape.
ST. NICK AND KIDS
These tales helped make St. Nick the patron saint of children. And to honor him, Europeans began giving gifts to their children on the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas, which fell on December 6.
Continue reading
Ever wonder how the Santa Claus of 21st-century Christmas lore came about? Here's the story of how an almost completely unknown bishop became the most recognized holiday character in Western civilization.
A MAN NAMED NICHOLAS
In the fourth century A.D., a man named Nicholas became the bishop of a village called Myra in what is now Turkey.
That's all we know about him.
Nevertheless, Bishop Nicholas of Myra was later canonized and went on to become the most popular saint in all of Christianity. He is the guardian saint of Russia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Norway, and Greece. He is the patron saint of children, virgins, pawnbrokers, pirates, thieves, brewers, pilgrims, fishermen, barrel makers, dyers, butchers, meatpackers, and haberdashers. He has more churches named after him than any of the apostles. And he has evolved into one of the best-known characters in the world -the fat, jolly, red-suited Santa Claus who delivers presents on Christmas Eve, St. Nick.
How did it happen? It took centuries.
MAKING A SAINT
It's a pretty safe guess that the real Nicholas of Myra was a kind and generous man, because most of the legends attributed to him describe kind acts toward children. Here are two of the most famous:
1. The Three Daughters. Nicholas was walking past a house when he overheard a man telling his three daughters that he was selling them into prostitution because he didn't have enough money for the dowries that would make them desirable wives. Later that night, Nicholas snuck back to the house and threw a bag of gold through a window. He did the same thing the following night, and then again a third night, providing enough gold for all three daughter's dowries. (According to a later version of the story, one of the bags landed in a stocking that was hung out to dry over a fireplace.)
Because of this, he became the patron saint of young brides and unmarried women. And because he delivered financial aid at a time when the girls needed it the most, pawnbrokers made him their patron saint. To this day, the symbol of the pawnbroker trade is three balls of gold -a spinoff of St. Nick's three bags of gold.
2. The Three Boys. For centuries, it was common to paint St. Nicholas holding his three bags of gold. But not every artist painted them well ...and at some point during the Middle Ages, artist painting new pictures of the saint began mistaking the bags for three human heads. To explain this image, a second legend evolved. According to this tale, St. Nicholas checked into an inn during a terrible famine and was surprised when the innkeeper served him meat -which had been unobtainable for months- for dinner. Suspecting the worst, Nicholas snuck down into the cellar and found the pickled bodies of three murdered young boys floating in a barrel. He restored the boys to life and helped them escape.
ST. NICK AND KIDS
These tales helped make St. Nick the patron saint of children. And to honor him, Europeans began giving gifts to their children on the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas, which fell on December 6.
Google has installed another Easter egg, except this one's more appropriate at Christmas than Easter. Go to Google search and type in Let It Snow, and watch your wish come true! I've even made a shortcut for you. Link -via mental_floss
Hanukkah (or Chanukah) the Jewish Festival of Lights begins Tuesday evening at sundown, and runs through December 28th. We wish you a wonderful holiday if you celebrate Hanukkah. If you don't, this would be a great opportunity to learn more about it. Then Thursday is the winter solstice. And Christmas Eve is one week away. OK, I know you're busy this weekend, unless you're one of those folks who get all their holiday preparation done way ahead of time. But take some time to catch up on the great features we've shared this week at Neatorama.
Jill Harness gave us some Christmas goodies in 15 Great Geeky Gingerbread People & Homes.
A Few More Facts About The Simpsons by Eddie Deezen was posted in honor of the series' 23rd anniversary today.
From Uncle John's Bathroom Reader came Tastes Like TV, with some awful recipes from your favorite sitcoms.
The Inventive Inventions of Dotts was brought to us by the Annals of Improbable Research.
Mental_floss magazine gave us 10 of the Greatest Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns of All-Time.
We have a different kind of contest running right now, and you have just a few more days to get your entry in, in the Extreme Neatorama Reading competition. There are four prizes from the NeatoShop up for grabs (your choice, of course) so get the contest details and send your pictures in ASAP!
In the What Is It? game this week, the item is a barbed wire salesman’s cane, made of barbed wire from patent number 184,486. No doubt he was selling barbed wire. The answer must have been too simple, because no one guessed it. We did have a lot of strange and amusing answers, though. The prize for the funniest one goes to ladybuggs, who said this is a dipstick for the Munstermobile! That clever thought wins him a t-shirt from the NeatoShop. See the answers to all this weeks mystery items revealed at the What Is It? blog.
If you live in the U.S. there's still time to do your Christmas shopping at the NeatoShop, thanks to UPS express shipping, but time is running short. Check the left sidebar at the shop for shipping deadlines. However, if you wait until the very last minute, the items you want may run out.
When you've caught up on everything here, be sure to check our Google+ page and our Facebook page every day for extra content, contests, discussions, videos, and links you won't find on our main page. Also, our Twitter feed will keep you updated on what's going around the web in real time. And remember, we always welcome your comments, feedback, and suggestions for making Neatorama ever better!
Jill Harness gave us some Christmas goodies in 15 Great Geeky Gingerbread People & Homes.
A Few More Facts About The Simpsons by Eddie Deezen was posted in honor of the series' 23rd anniversary today.
From Uncle John's Bathroom Reader came Tastes Like TV, with some awful recipes from your favorite sitcoms.
The Inventive Inventions of Dotts was brought to us by the Annals of Improbable Research.
Mental_floss magazine gave us 10 of the Greatest Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns of All-Time.
We have a different kind of contest running right now, and you have just a few more days to get your entry in, in the Extreme Neatorama Reading competition. There are four prizes from the NeatoShop up for grabs (your choice, of course) so get the contest details and send your pictures in ASAP!
In the What Is It? game this week, the item is a barbed wire salesman’s cane, made of barbed wire from patent number 184,486. No doubt he was selling barbed wire. The answer must have been too simple, because no one guessed it. We did have a lot of strange and amusing answers, though. The prize for the funniest one goes to ladybuggs, who said this is a dipstick for the Munstermobile! That clever thought wins him a t-shirt from the NeatoShop. See the answers to all this weeks mystery items revealed at the What Is It? blog.
If you live in the U.S. there's still time to do your Christmas shopping at the NeatoShop, thanks to UPS express shipping, but time is running short. Check the left sidebar at the shop for shipping deadlines. However, if you wait until the very last minute, the items you want may run out.
When you've caught up on everything here, be sure to check our Google+ page and our Facebook page every day for extra content, contests, discussions, videos, and links you won't find on our main page. Also, our Twitter feed will keep you updated on what's going around the web in real time. And remember, we always welcome your comments, feedback, and suggestions for making Neatorama ever better!
From the idle fertile minds behind Geeks Are Sexy comes a new site that focuses on the world of IT professionals and the funny stuff they encounter in their work. FailDesk has, of course, those clueless co-workers, resourceful workarounds, and clients that will surprise you.
You're invited to send in your IT stories, pictures, and other funny stuff and share it with those who will understand. Link
I had a very nice lady call me completely in tears one day because she had spilled an entire can of soda on her keyboard and it had quit working properly (aside from being just nasty – lol). One of the tricks I had learned was to have the customer put the keyboard in the dishwasher, after which, they should let it dry for a day or two. I explained to her this was perfectly safe to do and she was elated that it could possibly be so simple. Several days pass and she calls me back in tears because it didn’t work and NOW her computer won’t even turn on! After a few minutes of interrogation I determined that I needed to overnight her a new replacement computer.
What tripped me off? It was at the moment when she stated that she was able to get her keyboard AND box (CPU) in the dishwasher but the monitor didn’t fit so she had to remove the top shelp of her dishwasher and run a separate load just for it!
You're invited to send in your IT stories, pictures, and other funny stuff and share it with those who will understand. Link
(YouTube link)
Mattias Klum tries to get meerkats to sit still for photographs. The meerkats, however, don't take him seriously at all. -Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!
Email This Post to a Friend