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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

(Vimeo link)
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)

John Steven Szwalla was arrested for attempted armed robbery of a computer cafe in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He approached the store owner, Bobby Ray Mabe while pointing something that was under his shirt. Mabe and a store customer jumped on Szwalla, held him down, and called police. The "weapon" turned out to be a banana! Szwalla ate the banana before the police arrived.

"And the deputy said, 'Ah hah! He ate the evidence,'" Mabe said. "But we had the banana peel and they took a picture of it."

John Steven Szwalla, 17, was charged with one count of attempted armed robbery. Warrants and records with the sheriff's office list different addresses for him, with a most recent address in Clemmons.

Deputies joked about charging him with destroying evidence, said Major Brad Stanley, a spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff's office.

Szwalla is in the Forsyth County Jail with bond set at $50,000.

Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: Flickr user Jason Gulledge)

These glasses make it easy to identify whose drink belongs to who at a party. Then when a person gets to the point where they can't spell their own name, you know they've had too many! Link -via Unique Daily

Have you ever wondered who the Alfredo in Fettuccine Alfredo was? Or The Salisbury in Salisbury steak? Listverse has the stories of those whose names are left behind in the foods we eat.

Crêpes Suzette (thin pancakes covered with orange liqueur and sometimes set alight) were invented by the famous French chef Auguste Escoffier in honor of the renowned French actress (and Baroness) Suzanne Reichenberg (1853-1924). While this is the most likely origin of the dish (as Escoffier almost single-handedly invented modern French cuisine), other stories claim it was invented by a 15 year old assistant chef serving Queen Victoria’s son. This is most unlikely as an assistant chef would not have been given the chance to cook for royalty.

Link -via the Presurfer

Martin Humphreys of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England has a one-eyed cat named Midge he adopted from a rescue center 12 years ago. For five years now, Midge has accompanied Humphreys on his daily run and hates to finish behind him.

When his workplace offered a £1,000 competition for employees to fulfil a dream, he won after proposing a children’s film about Midge’s peculiar talent.

The result, The Great Race, has been selected for the Short Film Corner at Cannes and Mr Humphreys, who wrote, directed and penned the theme song for the eight-minute production, is flying out to the French Riviera to show it to Hollywood executives. It is believed to be the lowest budget offering at the festival – the opening night film, Pixar animation Up, cost $150 million to make.

Midge is not attending the film festival. Link to story with film trailer. Link to video report. -via Arbroath

Look what's eating this kid! Craftster member 3RaysOfSunshine knitted this awesome hat for his/her son, who wanted a "mean shark". Link -via Everlasting Blort

I live in a small town in Kentucky, and the only time you see more than a few young people in Goth clothing is during our annual festival, in the heat of August. Now I've found a niche blog that addresses a question I've pondered: how hot can they be in all that black Victorian attire?

Goths, I love 'em! I even used to be one for a bit (well, I was a Didi-Goth for at least 6 months). But there's one thing that troubles me about our cheery friends: what to do they do in summer? All that makeup, long black leather and rubber must get very sticky. I think we should show our respect for these poor unfortunates, struggling to stand out from the vanilla crowd despite blazing temperatures and sunshine that puts the rest of us in shorts and vest tops.

Goths in Hot Weather posts pictures of people in Goth fashion and rates them on how Goth and how sweaty they appear. Link -via b3ta

Instructables member seamster made this wooden tabletop pinball game out of bits and pieces he had saved over time, like drawer knobs, dowels, rubber bands, and a recycle tool table. The ball is from a computer mouse! Link -via Unique Daily

Characters from TV and movies are often placed in a real college setting. In today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss, you're asked to identify the real college in the background of 13 fictional characters. My wild guesses brought me a score of 38%. You will do better! http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/25468