Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
Vajdahunyad Castle in Budapest is the home of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum. It’s also the home of hundreds of antlers.
Hundreds of antlers, horns, hooves, and fur. Stuffed birds and mounted bears. Cutlery with horn handles carved into foxes. Antler broaches, antler chandeliers, and antler chairs. It is known as “The Hall of Hunting.” With beautiful vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows, along with the fact that the Agricultaral Museum is often empty, this top floor feels like the church of a long lost deer deity. Echoed footsteps and hushed whispers lend a quiet respect to these relics of the hunt.
One example of taxidermy art that stands out from the rest is two deer heads mounted together with their antlers entangled. Curious Expeditions has the story behind the museum and the antlers. Link
The Mosuo culture of the Hunan and Sichuan provinces in southwestern China is a matriarchal society, with women calling the shots. In this video report from National Geographic, one woman explains why she doesn’t want to marry. She is still in a passionate relationship with her child’s father after eight years because she doesn’t have to live with him or deal with in-laws. Makes sense to me. Link
Today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss will test your sense of spacial geography. Ten US states have been taken out of context and rotated. Can you recognize the states by their shape alone? I scored 100%, but the current average is 69%.
That surprised me, because some of these are difficult! http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15869
Six baby ducks fell into a storm drain in Gosforth, Newcastle. The mother duck couldn’t fit through the grate, so she walked along the path of the sewer pipe, following the sounds of duckling cries. She had to cross highways and a railroad to keep up with them. The journey stopped at a manhole, where the duck quacked for help for hours. Passers by lifted the manhole cover with a crowbar and brought all six ducklings to safety.
The mother and ducklings were taken to a nearby pond. Link -via Arbroath
Northumbria Water staff used a laptop showing the sewage layout to work out where the babies had got into it — and how far the mother had walked after them.
They fell into the system at the Three Mile Inn in Gosforth and were swept along the Great North Road before going beneath two schools divided by the Metro line.
They were then washed below a sports field, a hospital and an estate before ending up under the manhole in Barrasford Close.
The mother and ducklings were taken to a nearby pond. Link -via Arbroath
Joshua Heineman of Cursive Buildings has been collecting and altering archived images from the New York Public Library. He makes them wiggle, which creates a three-dimensional effect. You’ll have to click the link to see what I’m trying to explain. In the short term, the pictures seem to come to life. If you stare at any one of them too long, you may become dizzy. Link -via the Presurfer
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I well remember the horror that was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I had nightmares for weeks afterward. Ha! This trailer illustrates again how important a film’s soundtrack is. -via Viral Video Chart
A group of children in Terra Haute, Indiana were robbed of $17.50 at their lemonade stand. 18-year-old Steven Tryon grabbed the money from Dominique Morefield’s hand and ran off. Morefield chased the thief while calling police on her cell phone.
The kids say they will continue to sell lemonade, with adult supervision. Link -via J-Walk Blog
Tryon ran into a house down the street where police spent more than 45 minutes trying to coax him out. When he finally came out, police arrested him. The kids were able to identify him because they said he came to their street corner earlier that same day and tried to sell them a knife.
Tryon was taken to the Vigo County Jail. He's due in court Tuesday. He is facing a felony robbery charge.
The kids say they will continue to sell lemonade, with adult supervision. Link -via J-Walk Blog
It’s usually easy to figure out the city with the biggest number of people in any US state. The second-most populous city doesn’t get as much press about that fact. Can you guess the second most populous city in 15 states? Take the Lunchtime Quiz today at mental_floss! I scored 73%, which is below the average so far (but before the quiz was made public). How did YOU do? http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15840
The “solstice moon” will be visible tomorrow night. It just might be the biggest thing you’ve seen in quite some time!
There's no better time to see it. The full Moon of June 18th is a "solstice moon", coming only two days before the beginning of northern summer. This is significant because the sun and full Moon are like kids on a see-saw; when one is high, the other is low. This week's high solstice sun gives us a low, horizon-hugging Moon and a strong Moon Illusion.
NASA explains how the illusion works. Link
(image credit: Edmund E. Kasaitis)
You see pictures of misspelled or otherwise wrong road marking on the internet all the time, but you don’t know how old they are or whether they are altered, and you rarely find out where they are. But this lane marking in Florida is well-documented. You’ll find it on the John F. Kennedy Causeway in Miami, Florida -at least until they fix it. Or fix them. Joe Petrone couldn’t believe his eyes when he drove through the newly-painted causeway.
http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/572680.html -via Fark
''I pulled in the right lane and I saw it,'' Petrone said of the stretch between Harbor Island and Pelican Harbor Park. ``Then I saw another one and another one. . . .''
The mistake -- still there -- is repeated not once, not twice, but four times.
http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/572680.html -via Fark
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The Trons are a band of robots from New Zealand. They had a MySpace page earlier but the link isn't working right now. -via Viral Video Chart
Update 6/18/08 by Alex - here's an interview with The Trons, by David Farrier of TV3 Nightline: Link [YouTube] - Thanks David!
(YouTube link)
Recorded at the 2008 Star Wars Weekend Hyperspace Hoopla show at Disney's Hollywood Studios. (via Everlasting Blort)
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A puppy in Evansville, Indiana was smashed in a cardboard compactor! The female lab-pit bull mix may have been compacted more than once. The crew who found her at the recycling company is looking for a permanent home for her. Link -via Arbroath
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