Neatorama

Woman Does Hoops While Swinging on Rings Posted: 03 Jan 2009 11:38 PM PST [YouTube - Link] Here’s a short and sweet YouTube clip of a woman who can  hoop a hula (hula hoops? Who knows!) while swinging on rings. It’s pretty amazing, actually - I can’t even use a hula hoop while  standing on solid ground. - via videosift

Twins Born on Different Days, Months, and Years Posted: 03 Jan 2009 11:04 PM PST Tariq Griffin’s twin boys are special. Not only because they’re twins, but because they’re twins born on different days, months, and years! Twin brother Tarrance was born a bit earlier — 26 minutes to be exact. Tarrance Kyle Griffin Jr. was born at 11:51 p.m. Wednesday, followed by Tariq Lamont Griffin at 12:17 a.m. Thursday. That means the boys have the unique distinction of having been born on different days, months and years. Link - Thanks Tiffany!

Bacon Gumball Posted: 03 Jan 2009 10:46 PM PST Have you ever been scared yet deeply intrigued by something at the same time? Well, I’m like that with this Bacon Gumballs at the Web’s strangest store, Archie McPhee. I’m not sure if it’ll taste good, but how can you not try bacon gumball? Link - via Everlasting Blort

2% Wikipediaholics Account for 73.4% of All Wikipedia Edits Posted: 03 Jan 2009 10:45 PM PST Wikipedia bills itself as the free online encyclopedia anyone can edit. And while indeed that is true, do you ever wonder who does the bulk of the work? Jimbo Wales, the founder of Wikipedia has the surprising answer: Wales decided to run a simple study to find out: he counted who made the most edits to the site. "I expected to find something like an 80-20 rule: 80% of the work being done by 20% of the users, just because that seems to come up a lot. But it’s actually much, much tighter than that: it turns out over 50% of all the edits are done by just .7% of the users … 524 people. … And in fact the most active 2%, which is 1400 people, have done 73.4% of all the edits." The remaining 25% of edits, he said, were from "people who [are] contributing … a minor change of a fact or a minor spelling fix … or something like that." Aaron Swartz of Raw Thought has the full story: Link - via Silicon Alley Insider

Hilarious and Crazy Signage Posted: 03 Jan 2009 10:44 PM PST I don’t know how Avi Abrams of Dark Roasted Blend blog does it, but he’s managed to compile one of the web’s neatest gallery of wonderful, fun, and sometimes plain ol’ weird photos. I particularly like this one: The Hilarious & Crazy Signage, Part 12 (TWELVE!? When does he sleep?): Link

Illegal Logging? Posted: 03 Jan 2009 10:43 PM PST Environuts, … er, green enthusiasts were up in arms when they discovered an illegal logging site in Poland’s nature reserve. The police busted the culprit: Environmentalists found 20 neatly stacked tree trunks and others marked for felling with notches at the beauty-spot at Subkowy in northern Poland. But police followed a trail left where one tree had been dragged away - and found a beaver dam right in the middle of the river. A police spokesman said: "The campaigners are feeling pretty stupid. There’s nothing more natural than a beaver." Link - via The Evangelical Outpost

Monster Skin Rug Posted: 03 Jan 2009 10:41 PM PST Bear skin rug is so passé - Here’s something infinitely better: the Monster Skin Rug by Joshua Ben Longo of Longoland Design. It’ll go very well with the Monster Skin Chair. You can find this and other radical rugs and "must-see" mat designs on the always fascinating WebUrbanist blog: Link

Denizli Long-crowing Rooster Posted: 03 Jan 2009 09:55 PM PST (YouTube link) How would like to be awakened by this long-crowing rooster? There are several breeds that crow for longer than usual. Link -via Boing Boing

Gingerbread Mac Posted: 03 Jan 2009 08:54 PM PST No homebuilding slow down at my house. My two-and-a-half-and-don’t- you-forget-the-half-daddy daughter is on a gingerbread house-building binge. So when I was looking for inspiration online (read: wasting time in the guise of doing something productive), I ran across this fantastic gingerbread Mac by Flickr user minorbug. Link

Treasures Found in One Year Posted: 03 Jan 2009 08:42 PM PST Here’s an end-of-the-year list you haven’t seen a dozen versions of -ten discoveries of money and treasure in 2008. Gold and silver coins, jewelry, antiquities, things that make you say. “I wish I’d found that!” Shown are gold coins bearing the image of Carausius, who declared himself the emperor of of Northern Gaul and Britain (AD 286-93). They were found by Derrick Fretwell in a field in Ashbourne. England. Link -Thanks, Brand!

Frozen Bubbles Posted: 03 Jan 2009 08:41 PM PST It’s very cold tonight, so we played with bubbles If you blow them upwards enough they have time to freeze on the way down. Skipweasel took photographs of the experiments in blowing soap bubbles in freezing weather. The pictures are wild -especially when you see a frozen bubble bursting! Link

Hamster-powered Shredder Posted: 03 Jan 2009 08:39 PM PST The hamster runs on his exercise wheel, powering the shredder, which shreds a document and provides the hamster with a bed of clean litter to sleep on. Design consultant Tom Ballhatchet is in the process of getting a manufacturer for this prototype. Link -Thanks, Stu Roberts!

Brown Dyed Hotel - A Flash Game Posted: 03 Jan 2009 07:03 PM PST This game is surprisingly hard. You have to figure out how to get through each page without any direction whatsoever. It’s believed that there are 12 levels, but apparently there are some hints on the site that more exist. Will you figure it out? If you do, let us know in the comments. I got stuck on the Cirkles level (you can tell what level it is by the URL). I know what to do; I just can’t get it done. Link via Jayisgames

Reborn Baby Dolls and the Women Who Love Them Posted: 03 Jan 2009 03:54 PM PST Sounds like a Jerry Springer episode, doesn’t it? But it’s actually from Good Morning America. These “reborn” dolls are remade to look remarkably real - so lifelike, in fact, that some women carry them around in public and accept compliments on their “babies.” They also change their diapers multiple times a day and even throw them birthday parties, complete with real guests. GMA did a piece on these women and why they do what they do… it’s very strange and sad, I think. Link via BoingBoing Photo from Flutterbies and Scutterbotch Nursery

Hibachi Onion Volcano Posted: 03 Jan 2009 03:49 PM PST [YouTube - Link] “Slice an onion, separate into rings, and stack it to make a cone. Then fill with oil and water, and get annoying restaurant patrons to lean in really close with their cameraphones to see what percentage of their eyebrows you can remove. Optionally, add soy sauce for lava.” - via videosift

Ballooning Priest Won the 2008 Darwin Award Posted: 03 Jan 2009 11:22 AM PST Adelir Antonio de Carli the ballooning priest has just won one of the most un-coveted awards in history, the Darwin Awards. For those of you who don’t know, they are awarded to those who "remove themselves from the gene pool" in a particularly stupid fashion: Sitting for more than 19 hours in a lawn chair is not a trivial matter, even in the comfort of your own backyard. The priest took numerous safety precautions, including wearing a survival suit, selecting a buoyant chair, and packing a satellite phone and a GPS. However, the late Adelir Antonio made a fatal mistake. He did not know how to use the GPS. The winds changed, as winds do, and he was blown inexorably toward open sea. Link Link Previously on Neatorama: 30 Strangest Deaths in History

I Flip For You by John Schnall Posted: 03 Jan 2009 11:20 AM PST I Flip For You is a 22-second-long video clip that is chock pure of awesomeness. Either that or weirdness, depending on your point of view. Made by John Schnall of Quality Schnallity ("makers of rather strange animation). Link [embedded YouTube clip] | Higher quality version at HDgreetings

Skot Olsen’s Cephalopod Artwork Posted: 03 Jan 2009 11:19 AM PST "Neatorama isn’t a cephalopod blog," but here’s a marvelous art of squid art by Skot Olsen, titled "Blessed Saint Architeuthis" (2008). Skot loves the sea but was stung by a jellyfish at a tender young age, which explains a lot about his artwork: Link - via Ectoplasmosis

The “Legal to Pee” Prank Posted: 03 Jan 2009 11:18 AM PST As far as street pranks go, this one is pretty sophisticated. And funny. Here’s the "legal to pee" prank that hit Nottingham, UK: The signs, which were put up by pranksters in and around Nottingham, are designed to look official. They feature a toilet sign and include the words: "Public Urination Permitted After 7.30pm". Nottingham City Council is now urging the public to ignore the notices as it sets about removing them. [...] The prank also featured a laminated note, headed with the logo of Nottingham City Council, which said the scheme was aimed at reducing the mess faced by residents outside their homes. Link - via Museum of Hoaxes

Sexiest Profession: Architect Posted: 03 Jan 2009 11:17 AM PST What profession is found to be the sexiest by women? A survey done by a London dating agency Drawing Down the Moon (date unknown, this has been floating on the Web since 2005) revealed that architects get all the ladies: Architects are seen as being "balanced and rounded individuals who combine a creative approach with a caring, thoughtful disposition," the survey found. It concluded: "Their ability to cope with pressure of work in a relaxed manner was also deemed to be a significant plus." Male architects beat stockbrokers, doctors, film directors and teachers to the top spot. Link - via Swiss Miss

The Mundano Building in São Paulo, Brazil Posted: 03 Jan 2009 11:16 AM PST Those distinctive eyes, nose and lips are the hallmark of a Brazilian street artist Mundano. But instead of graffiti, this particular one graces the whole facade of a building in São Paulo. I can just imagine the lower "lips" rolling up when the store opens for the day. Found at Wooster Collective, where one would find such things: Link | More of Mundano’s street art on Flickr

Wanna Buy The Big Bopper’s Casket? Posted: 03 Jan 2009 10:33 AM PST If your goal in life is to own the most tasteless rock memorabilia, then you best be heading to eBay soon. The Big Bopper was moved to a new casket recently and that means his previously used casket is now up for sale on the internet. The casket is in good condition, having some minor rust damage and a little lime sentiment that shows water once entered the outside vault, although it seems the interior never suffered water damaged. If you’d like to see the item in person before you place a bid, it is currently on display in the Texas Musicians Museum. Link Via BoingBoing

Chimpanzee Riding On A Segway Posted: 03 Jan 2009 10:08 AM PST Japanese television is one of the best things in the world. Pair it with another stupidly catching internet song and you have an instant hit -especially when the video and song emphasize the wonder that is created when a chimpanzee rides on a segway. Link via Mental Floss

Custom Marty McFly Sneakers Posted: 03 Jan 2009 09:25 AM PST Shoe collector Mark Kurath commissioned a professional orthopedic shoemaker to construct these one-of-a-kind Back to The Future sneakers! The process took six months and cost him $4,000. Sneaker Freaker magazine interviews Kurath about his “McFlys” and the rest of his collection of 500 pairs of sneakers. Link -Thanks, Clare Xu!

Black and White Twins -Again! Posted: 03 Jan 2009 09:23 AM PST Dean Durrant and Alison Spooner of Fleet, Hants, England had twins seven years ago, two girls, Hayleigh appearing black, Lauren appearing white. The odds of such a combination are quite high -but now they’ve done it again! Alison gave birth to twin girls November 13th. Miya has dark skin and Leah appears white. Alison said: “I was shocked when I first found out I was pregnant with twins again — but I never thought for one second they would turn out the same as last time. After the babies were born they weren't breathing properly, so they were taken to a special care unit. It wasn't until about five days after they were born that we saw them side by side for the first time. And when they were together it was clear that one was darker than the other. It was unbelievable.” The babies are now home and reported healthy. Link -Thanks, Sharyn Bramscher! (image credit: Solent News & Photo Agency)

Obama Shirt Posted: 03 Jan 2009 09:19 AM PST “Neatorama isn't a political blog,” so here’s a t-shirt depicting president-elect Obama riding a unicorn, signifying a wonderful fantasy. $19 from Chris Bishop. Link -Thanks, Andrew Crocker!

The Execution of Mata Hari Posted: 03 Jan 2009 09:17 AM PST Mata Hari was the stage name of Margaretha Zelle, an exotic dancer who was lured into the spy business during World War I. The French, who recruited her, suspected her of being a double agent and sentenced her to death. Read an eyewitness account of her execution on October 15, 1917, from Henry Wales, a British reporter who covered the event. Link -via Cynical-C

20 Weird Logos That Work (and Why They Do) Posted: 03 Jan 2009 09:15 AM PST Logos are everywhere. Because of this, only a few can rise among the noise — and often it’s the more unique logos that are most memorable. Sometimes to be unique, you’ve also got to be weird. In this post, we showcase twenty lovably strange logos that work. The pictured logo is for Rehabilitation Hospital Corporation of America. Makes sense to me! Link -via the Presurfer

2008 in viral video as per Salon.com Posted: 03 Jan 2009 05:30 AM PST There are enough top “whatever” lists for 2008 out there on the net this week to keep thousands of movie critics, bloggers and just plain argumentative folks commenting well into Spring about who’s right and who’s wrong. I’m personally partial to Salon.com’s 2008 “Live! Nude! Puppies! The Year in Viral Video” list which leads off with the video above about two English men who are reunited with the lion they raised as a baby in their London flat nearly 40 years ago. Tell me you didn’t feel that! There are more, of course, including one from that wonderful little French girl Capucine on Vimeo who stole everyone’s hearts with her story about crocodiles and hippopotamuses. Salon embeds a few additional videos in the article but provides links to many more. What did Salon miss? What did we miss here? What were your favorite videos of 2008? What videos were important? Were any newsworthy? We want to hear from you on this icy Saturday, the first of 2009! Comment early - comment often!

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