The 1975 song Bohemian Rhapsody is a long strange song that became such a lasting hit that you know there's a fascinating backstory. The BBC produced an hour long show about it in 2004, in which Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen discuss the song's genesis and other musical artists marvel at the juggernaut it became. TYWKIWDBI has all six segments of the show embedded in one post. Link

Watch as Boeing builds a 737-700 for Southwest airlines in only 2.5 minutes in this time-lapse video. This particular plane is named the Florida One, for its artwork featuring the state flag. The catchy music is a bonus! Link (embedded YouTube clip)

In the United Arab Emirates, adventurous chef Anissa Helou got a chance to taste roasted camel hump. The tender hump full of stored fat is the choicest part of the camel, and you have to buy an entire camel to get the hump. In this post, you'll also see how to cook a whole camel at once! Link -Thanks, Hanan!

This handy place to keep your iPhone looks just like the phones we used when I was a kid! Each base is cast and sculpted one at a time. USB cord not included, so consider it an art work. $195 from Etsy seller freeland studios. Link -via Nag on the Lake

(YouTube link)

Dave may have had a terrible party in a previous life. He really hates that one particular song! -via The Daily What

The package was en route from Appomattox, Virginia to Puerto Rico. At the post office in Lynchburg, Virginia, postal workers noticed the box was moving. They had to get a search warrant, and when they finally opened the package, inspectors found a ferret inside! Postal workers promptly named it Stamps.

Photos from the Postal Inspector’s office show someone stuffed Stamps into a makeshift cage, doped him up on Benedryl, and tried to mail the ferret to the U.S. Territory.

The Postal Inspector handling the case, David McKinney, believes whoever tried to mail Stamps knew they were up to no good. The return address on the package is an abandoned house, and the sender doesn’t exist.

A local family with 15 other ferrets has adopted Stamps, who is healthy and estimated to be about two years old. Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: US Postal Inspector)

This packing tape is printed with the image of a backbone, which leads to a great pun for a product name. http://www.copernicustoys.com/proddetail.php?prod=t-spine -via Boing Boing?

Joey Chestnut, one of the world's top-ranked competitive eaters (previously at Neatorama), won the asparagus eating contest at the Stockton Asparagus Festival in California.

Chestnut, who now makes his home in San Jose, captured his fifth career asparagus-chewing championship, devouring 8 pounds, 7 ounces of fried asparagus as hundreds cheered the local hero on.

"It was a great contest," Chestnut said. "The crowd was definitely on my side so I definitely was able to push harder than everybody else, I think."

The 8 pound, 7 ounce tally just missed breaking Chestnut's own world record of 8.8 pounds, set in Stockton in 2008.

Chestnut previously held the title from 2004 until 2008. Link -via Fark

After you stop groaning, you can vote for this proposed Threadless T-shirt design by Ste7en. Link -via Nag on the Lake

If William Shakespeare hadn't died in 1616, he would be 446 years old today. In honor of the occasion, Geekosystem presents some things you can do to celebrate.

Though Shakespeare’s influence tends to be thought of in the context of academics and books, he’s also had a steady influence on geekdom. After the jump, five geeky ways you can bring in the Bard’s birthday:

1. Watch Star Trek.

If you watch closely, Shakespeare has an enormous influence over Star Trek: Star Trek wiki Memory Alpha has a very comprehensive list of influences over the years. Lots of Trek titles are Shakespeare references, Captain Picard loved to recite The Bard, and oh — William Shatner is a classically trained Shakespearean actor.

Link

Instants! is a page of buttons you can use to insert appropriate phrases and sound effects whenever you need them. I can't wait for the opportunity to tell a joke (drumroll) punchline (yeah!). Before showing this to children, note that a couple are NSFW. Link -via Gorilla Mask

When you chew a piece of mint gum and then take a drink, the drink seems colder than it would otherwise. It's not colder, that's an illusion from your brain and a protein called TRPM8.

TRPM8 doesn’t just respond to cold temperatures, though. It also activates in the presence of menthol, a waxy, crystalline organic compound found in peppermint and other mint oils. (It responds to other “cooling agents,” too, like eucalyptol and icilin. Why, exactly, is unknown; menthol just happens to fit the cellular “lock.”)

Read about how this works at mental_floss. Link

(vimeo link)

Peruvian filmmaker Ricardo de Montreuil made the short film The Raven on a budget of only $5,000. It is based on a treatment for a potential film trilogy. I won't give any details, just enjoy the effects! -via Geeks Are Sexy

The question of whether video games can be considered an art form is raging across the internet. Game designer Kellee Santiago asserted in a TED talk that they can be. Film critic Roger Ebert responded that video games are not and can never be art. Gamers and art critics immediately joined in the fray. Neatorama author John Farrier comes down on the side of video games as art and explains in detail.

I define art -- and specifically good art -- as the effective outward expression of an inward conception of an ideal condition. If a person thinks of a story, and can express that story fully in text, that person is an artist and has produced art. If a person thinks of a sound and can fully express that sound in music, that person is an artist and has produced art. If a person thinks of a movement and can fully express that movement in dance, that person is an artist and has produced art. If a person thinks of an image and can fully express that image in paint, that person is an artist and has produced art.

If a person can envision a video and gather a team together that can accurately express that inner vision, that person is an artist and has produced art.

What do you think? Link

Eighteen-year-old Connor Olson of Tonganoxie, Kansas spent the past year fighting bone cancer. Earlier this month, he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on one side. But he also achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and was looking forward to graduating from high school. Last week, Tonganoxie High School held an early graduation ceremony for Connor in which he was the only graduate.

The high school let out early Thursday so that Connor’s friends could watch him get his diploma.

So by the time he made his way into the auditorium, more than 500 people — classmates, neighbors, school board members, people who have raised money for his medical bills — were waiting for him.

Connor’s teachers, wearing black graduation gowns, stood in a big semicircle in front of the stage, most of them blinking back and wiping tears from their eyes.

Even though the stage has a lift, Connor's friends carried his wheelchair to the stage where he received his diploma. Speakers included the senior class president and a representative of the University of Kansas football team. The school band played the national anthem and a slide show of Connor's school days was shown. After he received his diploma, he went home with his parents and hospice nurse. http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/15/1880739_tonganoxie-holds-special-graduation.html (with video) -via Fark

Connor died a week later. http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/21/1894385_tonganoxie-student-who-courageously.html

(image credit: John Sleezer)