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This time-lapse video is cute enough to post even after Thanksgiving! -via Viral Video Chart

Scattered throughout the world, there are a small handful of castles made by non-architects, constructed without a team of workers, and with very little money.

All the castles presented below were built by a single person, with occasional help from family members or friends. Raised rock by rock from the ground, these castles are the result of unfaltering vision, pure will, and a lifetime effort to make literal the phrase “a man’s home is his castle.”

Curious Expeditions takes you on a tour of 15 such self-built castles. The castle pictured is Chateau Laroche in Loveland, Ohio. Link

When it’s completely made up, your weapon can do anything. Wizard Universe counts down the 50 greatest fictional weapons of all time. Surprisingly, the light saber ranked at only #4. http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/006398688.cfm (via Metafilter)

OfficeMax brought you Elf Yourself for Christmas last year. This year, they’ve expanded the application to include your friends! You can upload pictures of up to four people and turn them all into elves. And they’ve also introduced Scrooge Yourself, for those who want to send a “Bah! Humbug!” message. Link to Elf Yourself. Link to Scrooge Yourself. -via Ursi’s Blog

The Moringa Tree, known by many names including the Miracle Tree, is edible, nutritious, and has medicinal properties. The seeds can even purify water! No wonder it’s now cultivated in Third World countries. http://peacecorps.mtu.edu/resources/studentprojects/moringa.htm -via the Presurfer

(image credit: Anthony Simons)

The butter-substitute product I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter was a funny enough name, but as the product caught on, knockoffs followed. In order to piggyback on the original product’s fame, these other spreads have to have a name that is somewhar similar. Some turned out just plain silly, like Unbelievable This is Not Butter. See more at Required Eating. http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2007/11/its-not-butterdeal-with-it.html -via Grow-A-Brain

Tarantulas, grasshoppers, and scorpions are just the beginning of insects you can eat. Why do you think they call them “mealworms”? Link -via Ursi’s Blog

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These two cats seem to be having a very important conversation. Lucky for us, YouTube user klaatu42 has provided the English version.


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You remember tribbles, of course, but you’ll have fun seeing the other creatures you may or may not recall from the original Star Trek TV series. Wired has a gallery of the 10 cheesiest creatures from Star Trek. To be fair, the show ran from 1966-68, and they didn’t have the special effects budget that sci-fi series have today. Link

Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 4th this year. Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has instructions for making your own Mini-LED Menorah! Link

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I can imagine the dialogue for this encounter:

Crawfish: Stay back! I am big, scary, and dangerous!
Cat: Oh, hai! Do u has a flavor?
Dog: Zzzz.

Warning: You may be whistling the Imperial March for the rest of the day. -via Arbroath

King Faud’s Fountain in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia shoots water over a thousand feet into the air! See a video of the fountain in action at deputy dog. http://deputy-dog.com/2007/11/19/the-worlds-highest-fountain/

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Sung by Stephen M. Stahl, MD, PhD, of the Neurosciences Education Institute, with apologies to Gilbert and Sulivan. -via OmniBrain

Santa Claus made his entrance at a Texas mall over the weekend. Since theree was no chimney, Santa rappelled down the side of the building... almost. He became stuck about 30 feet from the ground.

"And what happened was his beard got caught in his rope-thing," one eyewitness said. "So then he couldn't get out, so then somebody threw him some scissors, and he started cutting his beard off, but then he was still stuck."

Have no fear, Santa was rescued by an emergency crew. Link (with video) -via Fark

In the latest installment of cute interspecies adoption, Summer the rabbit has become bonded with a litter of abandoned kittens. Veterinary nurse Melanie Humble took the kittens home to foster, expecting her cat Ellie to be interested, but five-month-old Summer took to the kittens instead, letting them snuggle with and climb all over her. Link -via Unique Daily