Neatorama

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• How To Pronounce The Year Correctly: Twenty Ten
• Growing Up Heroes
• Roller Skating Wedding
• Automatic Holy Water Dispenser
• How Wizard of Oz Should Have Logically Ended
• Wireless Spy Camera Scanner
• Dangerous Minds + Harry Potter = Dangerous Wands
• Dumbo Octopus With ... Shoes?!
• Did Van Gogh Slash His Ear Because of the Letter in This Painting?
• Bedtime May Save a Teenager
• The Mysterious History of Gumbo
• Compare The Meerkats - For Real
• New Year's Resolution Generator

How To Pronounce The Year Correctly: Twenty Ten Posted: 02 Jan 2010 12:59 AM PST The people at "Twenty Not Two Thousand" are worried that because people said "two thousand and nine," this habit may carry over for the present year. Don’t let it happen! It’s easily the most inefficient way to say the name of the year. Say the year “1810″ out loud. Now say the year “1999″ out loud. See a pattern? It’s been easier, faster, and shorter to say years this way for every decade (except for the one that just ended) instead of saying the number the long way. However, many people are carrying the way they said years from last decade over to this decade as a bad habit. If we don’t fix this now, we’ll be stuck saying years the long way for the next 89 years. Don’t let that happen! Link – via mentalfloss From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by nmiller.

Growing Up Heroes Posted: 02 Jan 2010 12:33 AM PST Superman and Batman (1977) Growing up Heroes is a fascinating tumblr blog by Belgian comic book fan Franz Donovan, where people submit their old childhood photos of themselves dressed up as superheroes. From Wired’s Underwire Blog: Donovan pictures his online scrapbook as an exercise in nostalgia. “Growing Up Heroes brings back vivid memories of our own attempts to be heroes when we were uncomplicated, over-imaginative, nerdy kids,” he said. The only things lacking are the "after" photos of these people all grown up: Link – via The Zeray Gazette

Roller Skating Wedding Posted: 02 Jan 2010 12:32 AM PST Photo: michelle.hayes [Flickr] Who says that wedding gowns have to be white and traditional? Check out these fantastic photos of Liz and Dave’s roller skating-themed wedding by photographer Michelle Hayes: Link More colorful wedding photos at COLOURlovers – via Rue The Day

Automatic Holy Water Dispenser Posted: 02 Jan 2010 12:31 AM PST Just because it’s holy water, it doesn’t mean that it’s also sterile water! To guard against swine flu, Italian inventor Luciano Marabrese invented the automatic holy water dispenser: The terracotta dispenser, used in the northern town of Fornaci di Briosco, functions like an automatic soap dispenser in public washrooms — a churchgoer waves his or her hand under a sensor and the machine spurts out holy water. "It has been a bit of a novelty. People initially were a bit shocked by this technological innovation but then they welcomed it with great enthusiasm and joy. The members of this parish have got used to it," said Father Pierangelo Motta. Catholics entering and leaving churches usually dip their hands into fonts full of holy water — which has been blessed by a priest — and make the sign of the cross. But fear of contracting the H1N1 virus has led many in Italy — where some 15 people have died of swine flu — not to dip their hands in the communal water font. "It’s great," said worshipper Marta Caimm as she entered the church. "Thanks to this we are not worried about catching swine flu. It is the right thing for the times," she said. Link (Photo: Stefano Rellandini/REUTERS) | Video clip (embedded YouTube clip) at TYWKIWDBI

How Wizard of Oz Should Have Logically Ended Posted: 02 Jan 2010 12:30 AM PST A journey to the Emerald City? Meeting strangers that have no brain, no heart and no courage? Getting attacked by flying monkeys? If you think about it, the Wizard of Oz is needlessly long and complicated. The folks over at How It Should Have Ended created a short animation that tells us logically how the Wizard of Oz should have ended. Miss Cellania has the clip: Link Also, from the Neatorama Shop: Wizard of Oz, the Short Version by Mike Jacobsen

Wireless Spy Camera Scanner Posted: 02 Jan 2010 12:30 AM PST If you’ve got a loved one whose motto is "just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you," then this is the perfect gift: a scanner for wireless spy camera! This portable detector features a 2.3-inch TFT color display and it is capable of finding spying devices within the frequency of 900MHz to 2700MHz. Whodathunk there’s such a thing? Link

Dangerous Minds + Harry Potter = Dangerous Wands Posted: 02 Jan 2010 12:29 AM PST If you’ve ever wondered what a Dangerous Minds and Harry Potter mashup would look like, the geniuses at College Humor have got it for you. Behold, Dangerous Wands, where a grown-up Hermione Granger went to teach in an inner-city magic school. Screenplay by Ben Joseph (sound track lyrics here), directed by Sam Reich. Link (embedded video clip)

Dumbo Octopus With ... Shoes?! Posted: 02 Jan 2010 12:28 AM PST Photo: Mbari (2003) We’ve featured Grimpoteuthis AKA the Dumbo octopus (look at its ears) before on Neatorama, but I couldn’t resist this photo from The Deep, a book by French documentary film producer Claire Nouvian (featuring more than 200 photos of weird deep sea creatures taken by scientists from submersibles). It looks like the Dumbo octopus has a pair of stylish shoes! Link – via TYWKIWDBI Previously on Neatorama: The Deep Book: Fantastic Photos of Deep Sea Creatures

Did Van Gogh Slash His Ear Because of the Letter in This Painting? Posted: 01 Jan 2010 09:37 PM PST In December of 1888, Vincent Van Gogh cut off the lobe of his left ear with a razor.  Many explanations have been offered for this bizarre behavior.  Now a scholar claims to have found an explanation in the portrayal of a letter in Van Gogh’s Still Life: Drawing Board, Pipe, Onions and Sealing-Wax, painted the following month. Bailey concludes that this letter was written by [Van Gogh's brother] Theo from Paris in December 1888 and contained news of his engagement. This, he believes, tipped Vincent, who was already psychologically disturbed, into self-harm.  "Vincent was fearful that he might lose his brother's emotional and financial support,”writes Bailey in the January edition of The Art Newspaper. The postmark depicted on the letter corresponds to that which would have been used by Van Gogh’s brother, and the date would agree with the transmital of the engagement news. Link.  Image credit.

Bedtime May Save a Teenager Posted: 01 Jan 2010 02:24 PM PST Teenagers need more sleep than other age groups; nine hours is recommended. But many only get seven or even fewer hours of sleep each night. A recent study found that adolescents whose parents set an early bedtime for them had fewer bouts of depression and suicidal thoughts than those whose parents set a later bedtime. Most adolescents in the study complied with set bedtimes, getting to bed an average of five minutes later. Results show that adolescents with parental set bedtimes of midnight or later were 24 percent more likely to suffer from depression (odds ratio = 1.24) and 20 percent more likely to have suicidal ideation (OR=1.20) than adolescents with parental set bedtimes of 10 p.m. or earlier. This association was appreciably attenuated by self-reported sleep duration and the perception of getting enough sleep. Adolescents who reported that they usually sleep for five or fewer hours per night were 71 percent more likely to suffer from depression (OR=1.71) and 48 percent more likely to think about committing suicide (OR=1.48) than those who reported getting eight hours of nightly sleep. Participants who reported that they “usually get enough sleep” were significantly less likely to suffer from depression (OR=0.35) and suicidal ideation (OR=0.71). The researchers in this study say there are several ways sleep deprivation can lead to depression. Link -via reddit (image credit: Flickr user Carlos 57)

The Mysterious History of Gumbo Posted: 01 Jan 2010 01:59 PM PST The delicious mixture of soup and rice called gumbo is enjoyed in New Orleans and across Louisiana, as well as anywhere else gumbo fans live. But where did the Creole recipe originate? The answer depends on which ingredient you like most! Gumbo as we know it is a cosmopolitan product with contributions from African-Americans, the French, Choctaw tribesmen, the Canadian immigrants who came to be called Cajuns, Spaniards, Italians, and even Germans. Its name is generally agreed to derive from ki ngombo, the term for okra in the Central Bantu dialect of West Africa, the homeland of many of the slaves brought to colonial Louisiana. Okra stews, served with rice, were a staple food among those slaves. And okra is the main thickening agent in many (though not all) varieties of gumbo. So it seems reasonable to conclude, as many culinary historians have, that the dish itself also bears some African heritage. Nevertheless, a debate about gumbo’s precise origins has raged for decades, framed by Louisiana’s legacy of colonialism and complicated by the vast range of gumbo-preparation techniques practiced by the different peoples who make up the region’s complex ethnic fabric. Most gumbos achieve their thickness, color, and texture partly from the use of a roux, the mixture of flour and oil employed by French cooks as early as the 14th century. This French technique has sometimes been used to bolster the theory that gumbo derived not from African okra stews, but from French bouillabaisse. Another theory contends that gumbo originated with Native Americans. That idea draws support from the use of the ground sassafras called filé powder as a thickening agent in some gumbos. According to this account, filé was introduced to the French by the Choctaws, whose word for sassafras was kombo. Of course, like most Louisiana recipes, the ingredients you use depends on what’s in season and in your cupboard. Link (image credit: Justin Vogt)

Compare The Meerkats - For Real Posted: 01 Jan 2010 01:52 PM PST The United Kingdom went meerkat crazy in the latter part of 2009, thanks to a viral advertising campaign which really had nothing to do with the animals.  Here is a look at the world of the meerkat with some pretty cool facts about (seemingly) everyone’s favorite mongoose.  Oh, the pics are really cute too. Meerkats always have black patches around the eyes, which to the us makes the meerkat seem more human. The patches are, in fact, to help deflect the strong glare of the African sun. Likewise its ears are black and are crescent shaped. When the meerkat digs – as is its wont – then the meerkat is able to close its ears to keep out the sand. The meerkat – like the moggy in one respect at least – has binocular vision. This means that it uses both eyes together. Link From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.

New Year's Resolution Generator Posted: 01 Jan 2010 11:14 AM PST Too lazy to come up with New Year’s resolutions, let alone keep them? This web tool by graphic designer Monica Verlarde will take away all of that hard work and provide you with a resolution — often a very simple one. Do you have a New Year’s resolution? What is it? Share in the comments. Link via Technabob

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