In the 1990s, MTV transitioned from a music video channel to more conventional programming aimed at teenagers. This started with their first reality show in 1992. The Real World was such a phenomenon that MTV has been developing reality TV shows ever since. And reality TV aimed at young people is bound to attract participants with more than their fair share of drama. Sadly, the industry is not kind to these folks. The list of those who have died or been arrested since their reality TV days is extensive. Some died of natural causes, although too young, while others succumbed to drugs, suicide, or other risky behavior. The same risky behavior landed quite a few in jail. Check out the list to see if the reality TV characters you know are on it.
Miss Cellania's Blog Posts
It's no wonder he's exhausted. He may end up with the best broom ever, but he'll be too tired to use it. This happens all the time, at least to me, that the smallest question I explore in what I think will be a minute-long side journey ends up as a quest through the black hole of the internet. An hour later, I finally think, "Wait, I can't use any of this, what am I doing?" This is the latest comic from Chris Hallbeck at Maximumble.
Eclectic Method turned the 1997 movie The Fifth Element into a song! The French production, filmed in England with American and British actors, was a visual treat, and this remix highlight those spectacular visuals for three minutes of rhythmic weirdness.
I still haven't seen The Fifth Element, but thanks to this, I now know where many of the gifs I've seen around the 'net are from. -via Digg
Neatorama is proud to bring you a guest post from Ernie Smith, the editor of Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail. In another life, he ran ShortFormBlog.
How The Three Stooges, icons of early film and late-night TV, inspired one late super-fan to carve his interest in the comedy troupe into his headstone.
Even now, cable networks like IFC and AMC run the Stooges at odd times, in the middle of the night, mostly on weekends, as fillers between other movies.
Kristen build a new tunnel for her pet fox Riot. Riot loves it! Castiel, the German shepherd, can't even fit into the tunnel, but Riot can zip right through and even turn around inside it. Here, he's having a great time irritating Castiel with his tunnel shenanigans.
Watch Riot play tag and peek-a-boo and hide and seek! See more of Riot and his animals friends at Instagram. -via Tastefully Offensive
Screen Junkies is back with a swing at a fairly recent film that also a tale as old as time. Beauty and the Beast was a huge hit in 1991, so Disney made a live-action version for 2017. The movie starring Emma Watson broke all kinds of records: it is the the highest-grossing live-action musical of all time, the biggest ever March release, and the biggest musical debut weekend ever. But you can bet they found some craziness to highlight in this Honest Trailer.
One thing they didn't touch on that annoyed me about the new Beauty and the Beast was why no one bothered to tell Belle that her skirt was tucked into her pantaloons through the first couple of scenes.
You may have watched the TV show Teletubbies as a child or with your children. The original series ran from 1997-2001, then it was revived in 2015 and is still being produced. Have you ever wondered who the people were behind those costumes? Buzzfeed looked up the actors who played each of the four Teletubbies in the original series' run. See what they look like, and what they are doing today.
See also: the face behind the sun baby.
This log home in Concho, Arizona (population 38), looks fairly ordinary from the outside. Once you go inside, it's a different story. According to the realtor's site,
Contemporary eccentric full log sided custom home on 20+/- acres for the cat fancier! If you love cats this is the home for you! If not bring your sandblaster! Custom build, hardwood kitchen cabinets (Oak, Lacewood, and Bocote) artistically accented with river rock. Cat walkways and in great room Medieval cat castle with different levels (stone). All interior doors custom built (wood). Must see to believe it does exist!!! Once in a lifetime find extremely fun home!
Not only is the house equipped to be a playground for cats, but images of cats cover the walls, floors, and even the ceiling. Even in the bathroom.
There are plenty more picture, since you "have to see it to believe it." The house comes with more than 20 acres, the list price is 240,000, and the craziest thing is all is that the 2016 property tax was $414. That's bonkers. -via Digg
The New Yorker put together a side-by-side comparison of New York City in the 1930s and how it looks today. While there are plenty of changes (not to mention New York is now in color), there are a lot of things that remain from 80 years ago.
The cultural center Doornroosje in Nijmege, Netherlands, has been the site of lots of graffiti and street art since it was built. Paul DeGraaf calls it a "graffiti hall of fame." He noticed a spot where the paint had fallen off, which revealed how very thick the layers of paint had become over thirty years' time. DeGraaf removed some more paint and studied it, to determine how old each layer is.
See a gallery of images from DeGraaf's project at imgur. -via Metafilter
The restaurant Industry Kitchen NYC already makes the world's most expensive pizza. Now they've introduced a new menu item called Pop Candy Land Pizza, although people are calling it "unicorn pizza." You can see that it's colorful, but you'll be glad to hear that it does not try to combine classic pizza flavors with candy. This pizza is a large rainbow sugar cookie topped with cream cheese frosting, sprinkles, Pop Rocks, and cotton candy. My teeth hurt just thinking about it.
What's even stranger is that Industry Kitchen NYC doesn't list it under "desserts," but rather under "pizza" in their menu. Would you try a slice? -via Laughing Squid
(Image credit: Danielle Tullo)
If you are on a college campus, the usual way to learn a lot about someone quickly is to ask, "Where are you from, and what's your major?" Outside of an academic setting, those questions don't quite make sense. It's tough enough making new friends as an adult, much less getting to know a potential romantic partner. In business relations, too, it's essential to learn all you can about the people you deal with. If you ask the right questions, you can spark a conversation that really gets to the heart of what the other person is all about.
Many of these questions are deceptively revelatory, such as “who or where would you haunt if you were a ghost?” It may seem like harmless fun, but this question might reveal if your conversation partner has a sentimental or a vengeful streak, for example. The best part is that asking just one of these questions can open and carry an interesting conversation that will leave you far better acquainted with a new contact than everyday small talk.
One question might work, but in this list at Gentlemen's Gazette, there are 53 to select from, so you can pick and choose what might work in a given situation. -via Swiss Miss
(Image credit: Clay Sinclair)
The current opioid epidemic can lead people into poverty, jail, or death. The conventional response is to cut off the supply, such as is attempted with the War on Drugs (and rehab programs for a lucky few). Vancouver is trying out a different response. At the Providence Crosstown Clinic, heroin addicts can receive medical-grade heroin, which they inject themselves under the supervision of a nurse. It doesn't cure the addiction, but it reduces the chances of dying of an overdose, contracting an infection, or being poisoned by bad drugs. It also reduces the need for addicts to commit crimes to support their habit.
Crosstown represents an international move toward providing a full spectrum of care for people who are addicted to drugs. It isn’t a first-line defense against opioid addiction, and it’s not going to solve the crisis by itself. But for a fraction of opioid users suffering from addiction (maybe about 10 to 15 percent), other treatments won’t produce good results, almost certainly leading users to relapse — and possibly overdose and die.
To combat this cycle, Crosstown offers these opioid users medical-grade heroin (called “diacetylmorphine”). Under supervision, nurses are at the ready with the overdose antidote naloxone and oxygen tanks in case of an emergency. These patients are the people for whom other treatments have failed. It’s a last resort. And it works.
Since 2011, the clinic has seen about 200 patients. None of them, MacDonald said, have died under the clinic’s supervision. In fact, as far as he can tell, no one has died at any prescription heroin facility due to an overdose — not in Canada, Switzerland, Germany, or the Netherlands.
Read about Vancouver's heroin program at Vox. -via Digg
(Image credit: Tom Humberstone)
In 1782, a merchant built a house that straddled the US/Canadian border where the towns of Beebe Plain, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec, met. His idea was to sell goods to both Americans and Canadians, so there are entrances on both sides of the building. It later became a residence and then was cut into apartments, but the border was not a big deal …until September 11, 2001. Since then, border security has become a pain for the current owners, Brian and Joan Dumoulin, who are dual citizens. They are trying to sell the property, which will cost you $109,000 if you pay in US dollars or $147,000 Canadian. The property comes with border agents.
Troy Rabideau, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection assistant port director for the area that includes Beebe Plain, said the agents know who live there, but keeping track can be a challenge.
“It’s always a fine line,” Rabideau said. “We do the best we can to keep an eye on it. We do what we have to do, security first, but we also want the support of the locals.”
The DuMoulins’ house has entrances from the United States and Canada. Agents have come to know the people who live in the house, currently vacant, and allow them to move back and forth freely as long as they stay in the house or the tiny front or backyard. There’s a small granite border marker just outside the front door.
There is a gate hidden in a backyard hedge. DuMoulin said U.S. agents wanted to be sure the gate was wired shut. It is.
Besides being under 24-hour scrutiny, you have to wonder how much of a nightmare property taxes are. And which laws are in effect for the inside. Read more about this unique house at the Vancouver Sun. -via reddit
(Image credit: Google Maps)
You won't find a more literal illustration of the title Caught Red-Handed. But Emma is not going to readily confess to an obvious transgression.
Paul Ross shared this cute video of his daughter practicing for her future political career. -via Tastefully Offensive