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Fallen leaves are an iconic symbol of autumn, and yet most are simply raked up and mulched or bagged, thrown in the trash for covering up our precious yards.

Leaf disposal is a necessary chore, but at least you can have a bit of fun with them before you toss them out!

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People in Japan are getting all artsy with fallen leaves and sharing their creations via social media, turning piles of leaves into cool shapes, characters like Winnie the Pooh, and one amazing leaf rose bouquet.

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So as not to leave the pine needles out which have been piling up too people are using them to "draw" their favorite neighbor Totoro!

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See Japanese Are Going Crazy About The Fallen Leaves, Turn Them Into Art here

There are super villains like Lex Luthor, Darkseid and The Kingpin who willingly embraced the darkness and chose to become a force of evil, and then there are those who were turned into villains by circumstances beyond their control.

These good people were twisted into doing evil deeds by the callous corporations who gave them super powers, the events that resulted in the loss of their loveds one or, in Magneto's case, by atrocities committed against mutantkind..

Both Harley Quinn and The Lizard were doctors before their transformation into the villains we know today, and when their humanistic sides shine through they both possess the desire to help people.

And then there's Bizarro- Superman's totally cracked evil twin.

Bizarro is a good guy beneath the bad skin and wicked attitude, because in Bizarro World bad is good and evil is super duper good!

Which is why Supes is often able to trick Bizarro into doing the right thing, because when Bizarro looks in the mirror he sees a hero staring back at him...I guess all mirrors on Bizarro World are broken!

See 11 Super Villains Who Are Actually Nice People here

People are tired of putting up the same old Christmas ornaments, and geeks naturally want to cover their trees with their favorite pop culture characters and people.

For instance, wouldn't it be nice to put up an ornament of Saint Nick (Cave) or Santa Klaus (Nomi) instead of the same old Santa?

Traditional they are not, but the awesome New Wave ornaments created by NY based illustrator Matthew Lineham are a smash hit with the cool kids, and are only suitable for truly hip trees.

Matthew's New Wave ornaments were such a hit they sold out three times over, but hopefully he'll make our radical dreams come true and keep making these amazing ornaments, because my tree suddenly seems naked without David Snowie!

-Via Dangerous Minds

Even though the differences may not seem obvious the fans and fanboys/fangirls of the world are quite different from each other, starting with the fact that anyone can be a fan but only the truly obsessed become fanboys.

This obsession twists the poor little fanboys and fangirls into creatures fueled by pop culture, who live to argue about their favorite franchises while waiting for the next release.

Many diehard fans will refer to themselves as fanboys, but as this comic by Tom Preston shows you're only really allowed to add the "boy" or "girl" to fan when you've taken all the joy out of being a fan!

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

Bonsai trees are living works of art, the ultimate example of man shaping nature to his will and one of the most difficult plants to care for because, like their full sized relatives, they can live for hundreds of years.

In fact, this Japanese White Pine is one of the oldest bonsai trees in the world, said to be in training since 1625 and known to have survived the bombing of Hiroshima thanks to the high walls of the nursery.

This amazing tiny tree, along with many other bonsai masterpieces new and really, really old, are on display at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington D.C., where photographer Stephen Voss captures their timeless beauty.

Stephen's photos have been collected in a hand-crafted book called In Training, where his unique vision showcases each bonsai as a work of fine art.

See Photos of Historic Bonsai Masterpieces at Atlas Obscura

Tony Stark is a billionaire playboy, genius, philanthropist, inventor and a drunk, and while he's one of the least powerful Avengers in terms of inherent power levels he can outfunny them all.

Tony's ironclad sense of humor isn't understood or appreciated by his fellow team members, and frankly they could do without all that wisecracking in their ear while they're trying to take down the bad guys.

But Tony doesn't give a crap what they think, as long as the ladies still love him and he doesn't make the big green guy angry, err, angrier.

See 15 Tony Stark Comics Moments That Will Make You Smile here

When a frog looks like a frog few people care or take notice, but when a frog looks like Princess Leia because it has two snails crawling on its head people celebrate its existence by making it the star of a Photoshop Battle.

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This PsBattle naturally began at the beginning, when the world was first introduced to the smart and scrappy young Leia, back before Luke found out they were related.

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But then the Battle waged on, and we were forced to feel all those froggy feels we never knew we felt.

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Many wondered where that strange source image came from, and why those snails were crawling on the little frog's head, so the frog's owner, photographer Tanto Yensen, explained:

“I just wanted to take some photographs of my frog and not so long after I went outside, the snails came out from the wood and then walked over to the frog. I thought it was very funny. I think it looks similar to Princess Leia’s hairstyle from Star Wars. And it looks like he’s using headphones too.”

Are those Beats by Dre?

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See Frog That Looks Like Princess Leia Sparks Photoshop Battle here

Kids like to feel secure when they're traveling, and exploring strange new places all by yourself can be quite terrifying for kids and adults alike.

So imagine how scared a young runaway would feel if he found himself on an alien planet devoid of human life, and how much more terrifying it would be to discover that planet is Earth after The Scourge has virtually decimated humanity. 

That in a nutshell is the premise behind Adam Floeck and Nate Swinehart's proof of concept short film THE SENTINEL, which they'd like to turn into a full-fledged animated series.

The Sentinel from Adam Floeck on Vimeo.

THE SENTINEL is little more than a teaser at this point, but Adam and Nate's company Boketto is hoping to drum up interest in the series with this press release, which further explains the show.

And since that teaser trailer probably left you wanting more here's an animated short Adam and Nate created together a few years back called Legacy.

Legacy from Adam Floeck on Vimeo.

-Via GeekTyrant

Most of us just put up Christmas decorations each year to make our homes feel festive and bright, and because they look neat and reflect our personal sense of style.

But every standard Christmas decoration, from the stockings to the wreath to the tree, has a symbolic meaning that most people are unaware of, most of which are tied to the holiday's Christian roots.

The wreath is a pretty straightforward symbol of Christ, meant to symbolize the crown of thorns he wore on his head while he hung on the cross, with red berries symbolizing drops of his blood.

Candy canes are supposedly shaped to look like the shepherd's staff, and some say the red stripe symbolizes the blood of Christ and the white stripe symbolizes purity.

And in keeping with the "blood of Christ" theme- according to legend holly berries were once white, but blood shed by Christ stained them red.

In truth, some holly bushes still produce yellow or white berries, and those red berries start out green and only turn red when they're ripe.

See The Hidden Symbolism Behind Your Favorite Christmas Decorations here

There are plenty of holiday songs which feature lyrics that are a bit backwards, but We Wish You A Merry Christmas isn't one of them.

In fact, it's one of the most tame and innocuous songs ever written, so the only way to make We Wish You A Merry Christmas seem backwards is to actually play it backwards.

So that's just what naicisum Rob Scallon did- he recorded the entire carol in reverse, then played it back in reverse so it sounds similar to the original version- only stranger.

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This seems like a perfectly appropriate Christmas carol for a year as messed up as 2016...only Rob recorded this song backwards three years ago. Maybe he saw the 2016 crapstorm coming?

-Via Laughing Squid

Rodents aren't going away despite the hard work put in by cats and exterminators, and even though most humans hate rats and mice there are those among us who genuinely love the critters we so callously refer to as "vermin".

#bergsgatan #kebabhouse #möllan #anonymouse_mmx #anonymouse #Disney #thegreatmousedetective #therescuers #anamericantail #donbluth #streetart

A photo posted by AnonyMouse (@anonymouse_mmx) on Dec 7, 2016 at 1:24am PST

In fact, a street art group calling themselves AnonyMouse like rodents so much they're trying to make Malmö, Sweden more rodent friendly- by opening up a mouse-sized Italian café.

#anonymouse #anonymouse_mmx #Malmö #möllan

A photo posted by AnonyMouse (@anonymouse_mmx) on Nov 22, 2016 at 3:16pm PST

The café is called Il Tupolino (Mickey Mouse) and it features outdoor seating, a cute little striped awning in the front and a temperamental chef inside the building...which the mice can't actually enter, since it's a diorama.

ENGLISH BELOW. Invigningen av restaurangen Il Topolino möttes av ett något större tryck än beräknat. Det var kul men lämnade ett visst slitage på lokalerna, så under kvällen valde vi att hålla stängt för lättare renovering. (det kan ha funnits en incident med en kock och dåligt dragna ledningar). Men nu är vi åter på plats igen och välkomnar lagom till frukosten. ###### The grand opening of Il topolino was met with a slightly larger interest than anticipated. Its been good fun by also resulted in a bit of a wear on the inventory, so this afternoon we were forced to shut down temporarely (there might have been an incident with a chef and some loose wiring). Anyways, we're back again, just in time for breakfast! Cheese out! #anonymouse

A photo posted by AnonyMouse (@anonymouse_mmx) on Dec 11, 2016 at 9:27pm PST

But the adorable little café is situated next door to the darling nuttery Noix de Vie (Nuts of Life), where walnuts hang like roasted ducks in the window to tantalize any hungry mice that walk by.

#anonymouse_mmx @anonymouse #möllan

A photo posted by AnonyMouse (@anonymouse_mmx) on Nov 25, 2016 at 5:05pm PST

-Via Laughing Squid

Monopoly isn't the greatest board game in the world, but it does have one thing going for it that adds to the replay value- you can customize the game to add variety.

The most popular Monopoly "hack" is the Free Parking lottery- every time a player pays income tax or a fine that money is placed in the middle of the board, and the first person to land on Free Parking takes it all.

According to the rules Free Parking is a space where nothing happens, but since Monopoly can be pretty boring when played strictly by the book people have been making up their own rules since the game came out over 100 years ago.

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This video by Today I Found Out reveals some of the "wrong" ways people play Monopoly, which will probably just make you want to break the rules even more than before!

Social media sites like Facebook trick us into sharing our opinions by asking us what's on our mind, but share your real thoughts and you'll quickly realize one thing- your so-called FB "friends" don't want to hear how you really feel.

And even if you don't express yourself they'll judge you for oversharing photos, posting too many memes, and don't even get me started on stating a political opinion that someone might disagree with...

This comic strip from The Awkward Yeti is right- social media sucks!

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

Nomenclature is a big, complicated sounding word for a simple concept- the naming of things, such as species of animals.

Some people don't take naming as seriously as they should, calling things whatever they like regardless of that thing's official designation, which is just plain wrong.

Because, as this comic from Mr. Lovenstein shows, it's important to call a tortoise a tortoise, or you might make it shella angry.

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

Serial killers achieve a sort of inhuman status once they're caught and their crimes brought to light, but despite their heinous crimes they're still normal people after all.

And normal people do normal stuff, like leave reviews on Amazon for items like knives, padlocks, shovels and gun accessories, items that only seem sinister when they're associated with a killer.

"havnet [sic] stabbed anyone yet...... yet.... but I am keeping the dream alive and when I do, it will be with a quality tool like this..."

But in retrospect the Amazon reviews left by alleged serial killer Todd Kohlhepp should have read as sinister well before he was arrested, because who in their right mind leaves a review like this for a shovel with a folding handle:

"keep in car for when you have to hide the bodies and you left the full size shovel at home.... does not come with a midget, which would have been nice."

Greenville Online says these disturbing Amazon reviews are now being used as evidence against Kohlhepp, but the fact that he had been posting them since 2014 should have raised some red flags. Maybe people thought he was trolling?

-Via Esquire