Have you ever had one of those days where everything goes wrong and you just can't get where you're trying to go? That's the idea behind this collage-style animation by Thomas Markovsky. Link -via Everlasting Blort

Today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss might be difficult. It was for me! You'll be given ten well-known men, all with the same first or middle name. Do they spell it Alan, Allan, or Allen? I scored just 40%, and I thought I knew these guys! http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/25726

Here's a site that can keep you busy for a long time! This virtual tour of the White House has current floor plans of each floor and section of the building as well as ground layouts -PLUS historical floor plans from various eras in its history. Click on the rooms to see photos of what's inside, and how the room looked in the past. Each page has more information, such as which president and First Lady slept in twin beds or separate rooms. I learned about the "bachelor suite" used by young men who courted Woodrow Wilson's daughters, and how Zachary Taylor's slaves had to climb a ladder to get to their attic rooms. Link -via the Presurfer

Note: I had some trouble with the "Residence Overview" page. You may have to hit your back button to get out of that one.

Dark Roasted Blend has a photo-heavy roundup of interesting bridge construction, beginning with views of several bridges being built across huge gorges in China. The bridge shown is part of the Jinji Expressway. Also see large, artful, and scary bridges from around the world, plus links to earlier posts in the series on bridges. Link

12-year-old Nicholas Rossi fell off his bike in Maryborough, Victoria, Australia. His parents rushed him to the local hospital, where Dr. Rob Carson saw the child's brain was bleeding. The hospital did not have the equipment for brain surgery, so he ordered a drill from the maintenance department in order to open the skull and relieve the pressure.

Michael Rossi says his son would have died if Dr Carson had not acted quickly.

"He came out and he saw us and he said he's only got one shot at it, and one shot only," he said. "[He said] 'I'm going to drill into Nick's head and try and relieve the pressure'."

"And he said if we can relieve the pressure he's going to reach Melbourne via air ambulance in a lot better shape than if we don't try something.

"Dr Carson told me all he can remember saying is, 'Get the Black and Decker'."

Carson consulted with Melbourne neurosurgeon David Wallace by phone, who talked him through the procedure. Rossi was up and walking around within a couple of days, and has since made a full recovery. Link

Because Star Wars created a demand for movie toys (and none existed when the movie premiered), toy companies now make them available before they know whether the movie is a hit or a bomb. This makes for lots of wasted product when a movie tanks. Topless Robot has ten examples they should have seen coming. I had no idea there were action figures for Battlefield Earth! I want one, just for the kitsch value. Link -via Digg

Of course you are familiar with Transformers, He-Man, and G.I. Joe, but there was also M.A.S.K. If you remember this show, you'll do well on Today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss. Link

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The guys who brought you An Engineers Guide to Cats demonstrate cat yodeling techniques. All it takes is their system and a mildly annoyed cat. Don't miss the orchestral arrangement at end! -via Viral Video Chart

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This recycling project looks like it could be fun, or at least a way to impress your kids! -via Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories

The first building in Savannah, Georgia was a "herb house" for the gardener tending the experimental botanical gardens that were going to make the city a Utopia. Instead, the city became a busy seaport. The garden house was made into a tavern catering to merchant ships' crews and pirates.

Pirates get a bad rap. They were cut-throat, drunken maniacs, sure, but what they did have was great benefits. Compared to other sailing outfits, pirates often had better food, better pay, better sleeping arrangements (all still horrible of course) than other soldier or merchant vessels. Pirates at least had a democratic decision-making system. Comparatively luxurious, the pirate ships often had plenty of people willing to join them. Not so for your standard military or merchant ships. Sailors regularly jumped ship, and after a few days stay in a port, a ship could be shorthanded by half a dozen men. This is where the “Pirates’ House” came in. Besides beer, food and wenches, the “Pirate House” did a brisk trade in something else; they found new sailors for the ships. Rather than going to all the trouble of convincing people of what a nice life it was at sea (people knew better) they simply kidnapped them.

Curious Expeditions explains how these kidnappings (known as being “shanghaied") were accomplished, as well as other pirate activities, and you'll get a look at more of the fascinating history of the city of Savannah. Link

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William Castleman shot this video of the night sky at the Texas Star Party in Fort Davis, TX April 21-22. Watch as the core of the Milky Way passes over. -via reddit

WebEcoist has twelve tales of animals escaping from captivity. Some were recaptured quickly; others weren't so simple.

When zookeepers found that a Macaw had vanished, they were baffled because they knew his wings were clipped, preventing him from flying away. They later found that did not stop him from fluttering out of the enclosure and catching a ride inside an RV’s engine cabinet.

Link -via Unique Daily

No kittens were harmed in this recreation of the carnival game Whack-A-Mole. This is almost as cute as the Whack-A-Mouse game we posted previously! Link

Louise Hibbert works with wood and Sarah Parker-Eaton works with silver and gold. Separately and together, they create art inspired by microscopic plankton from the oceans.

Patterns and form in nature have inspired artists and designers throughout history. The microscopic drifting organisms that populate the oceans and great lakes, the plankton, are subject to very different physical forces to those that develop shape and form in larger organisms such as alleviaton of gravity. As a consequence they have developed unique forms, architectures, kinetics and complex symmetries uncommon in larger and terrestrial forms.

Link -via the Presurfer

This Flickr pool puts all kinds of photos of jazz hands together. Most are pictures of people with splayed fingers, but some, like this warning sign, may be unintentionally jazzy. Link -via Buzzfeed

(image credit: Flickr user xetark)