Neatorama

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• Man in a Blizzard
• Sealed with a Kiss -and Neuroscience
• Graphic Violence
• 20 License Plates To Die For
• Woman Tests Husband with Fake Kidnapping
• Music Hotel Really Sticks Out!
• Do Pterosaurs Still Exist on Papua New Guinea?
• United State of Pop 2010 (Don't Stop the Pop)
• 12 Tips From The Stupidest Criminals of 2010

Man in a Blizzard Posted: 30 Dec 2010 04:36 AM PST (YouTube link) Man in a Blizzard, also possibly at one time called Idiot with a Tripod, is Jamie Stuart’s observations during the blizzard that hit New York City. It was filmed on Saturday, edited in almost no time, uploaded to YouTube Sunday, and earned a great review from Roger Ebert. This film deserves to win the Academy Award for best live-action short subject. (1) Because of its wonderful quality. (2) Because of its role as homage. It is directly inspired by Dziga Vertov’s 1929 silent classic “Man With a Movie Camera.” (3) Because it represents an almost unbelievable technical proficiency. -via The Daily What

Sealed with a Kiss -and Neuroscience Posted: 30 Dec 2010 04:32 AM PST One of our New Year traditions is to kiss someone at midnight. No pressure there, right? A kiss is a great way to start out a new year on a high note, and there is a biological basis for the urge. A kiss works toward three things: sex, romantic love, and bonding. Humans have evolved to use a number of signals – including taste, smell and possibly silent chemical messengers called pheromones – to help us figure out whether someone is a suitable partner and a good person to reproduce with. A kiss means getting close to someone – close enough to suss out important clues about chemistry and genetics. At this range, our noses can detect valuable information about another person’s health and perhaps even his or her DNA. Biologist Claus Wedekind has found, for instance, that women are most attracted to the scents of men with a different set of genetic coding for immunity than their own. This is probably because when there is greater genetic diversity between parents in this area, their children will have more versatile immune systems. Sheril Kirshenbaum, who wrote the book The Science of Kissing, tells us how great kisses kick start our chemicals and hormones, and how a kiss’ effects on our brains and bodies promote relationships. Link -via The Intersection

Graphic Violence Posted: 29 Dec 2010 05:34 PM PST (YouTube link) Two guys with a conflict turn into street art and behave like video game characters. This really neat animation was produced by CorridorDigital. -via Laughing Squid

20 License Plates To Die For Posted: 29 Dec 2010 08:29 AM PST Funeral homes strive to do their job with sympathy and dignity. However, a lot of older hearses are sold to the public and quite a few private owners like to show off their ride, which can mean getting an “appropriate” vanity plate. Shiny Plates has a collection of these morbid but imaginative hearse license plates. Link -via Bits and Pieces (Image credit: Flickr user Molly Holzschlag)

Woman Tests Husband with Fake Kidnapping Posted: 29 Dec 2010 08:26 AM PST Spanish police have arrested an unnamed woman who faked her own kidnapping. She sent a photograph of herself with her hands and feet tied, along with a ransom demand of 20,000 euros. The ransom request was repeated in later text messages as well as warnings that the man not go to police, which he ignored. Police launched a search and spotted her car, which they followed to a shopping mall in the town of Gandia on the Mediterranean coast. “The woman, who was travelling alone and was in perfect health, was the supposed victim of the kidnapping,” the police statement said. At first she told police that she had been released that morning but later confessed to faking her abduction “to find out what her husband would be willing to do for her”. There’s no word on whether the perpetrator found her husband’s response acceptable. Link -via Arbroath (Image created with Ransom Note Generator)

Music Hotel Really Sticks Out! Posted: 29 Dec 2010 07:03 AM PST Nhow Berlin (in Berlin, of course) calls itself “Europe’s first music hotel.” It has a state-of-the-art recording studio and amenities that cater to musicians. But the real attraction is the weird architecture! The inside is artfully designed as well. See more pictures at Jetsetta. Link

Do Pterosaurs Still Exist on Papua New Guinea? Posted: 29 Dec 2010 06:37 AM PST In Papua New Guinea, natives describe huge flying animals with long beaks, bat-like wings, and razor-sharp teeth and claws. Evidence of gigantic nesting sites have been found in the mountains. Remember, this is the area where previously-unknown species of animals are found almost constantly. Could these creatures be living pterosaurs? The Ropen or 'demon flyer’ is a monstrous animal that is said to have terrified the natives of Papua New Guinea for thousands of years. Another smaller animal, known as the Duah, is possibly related to the Ropen, a cryptid creature said to haunts some of the far-flung outlying islands. The flying animals described are said to “glow” in the dark, as reported both by locals and researchers. It has been hypothesized that the bio-luminescent glow assists the animals’ effort to hunt and catch food in the deep darkness of the tropical night. One of the researchers, David Woetzel, has said that he recorded images of the animals while studying them. Link (Image credit: Wikipedia user DinoGuy2)

United State of Pop 2010 (Don't Stop the Pop) Posted: 29 Dec 2010 06:34 AM PST (YouTube link) DJ Earworm has released his annual mashup of the top 25 songs of the year. The songs used in this video are listed at the YouTube page. -via The Daily What

12 Tips From The Stupidest Criminals of 2010 Posted: 29 Dec 2010 05:26 AM PST Most lawbreakers aren't exactly geniuses, but these troublemakers cross the line between foolishness and downright ineptitude. To at least help prevent any more crimes of this level of stupidity, here are a few tips for aspiring criminals without any level of common sense. Don't Make Assumptions There are a lot of situations where slang is a bad idea; and asking for "dough" at a pizza joint is certainly a good example. Funny enough though, the robbers who made off with a bagful of dough weren't even victims of a bad pun, they were just stupid enough to point to a bag behind the counter without verifying that the bag held money instead of pizza ingredients. The moral of the story is that when holding someone up, you're much better off asking them to hand over the cash than simply pointing to a random bag in the store. Image via Jeff Kubina [Flickr] Don't Make Stupid Excuses "That's not mine" just might be one of the oldest excuses in the book when it comes to illicit substances. While plenty of suspects have tried to say their drug stash belonged to their friends, most of them weren't stupid enough to say it about crack in their butt crack. Even if it was his friend's crack, it certainly was under his "control" at the time of the arrest, and that's all that really matters. Image via HTB [Flickr] Some Things Are Not A Police Matter There's a reason real drug dealers have such a vicious reputation to uphold. After all, if someone takes their supply, it's not like they can just call the police. Amateur drug cultivators aren't always hip to these rules, which is why it's not entirely surprising that a small-time marijuana grower called the police when someone stole one of his prized plants. The police responded to the crime immediately –by confiscating his four remaining plants. Don't Complain Robbing a store is a big gamble. Aside from the risk of getting caught, there's also a risk that there won't be much money in the register at the time. If you lose that gamble and end up only getting $586 in the hold up (which is actually pretty decent for a Wendy's), you probably shouldn't call the store to complain. One man learned this the hard way after police tracked him down when he called a second time to tell the workers they'd better have more money in the register the next time he robs them. Image via alanwhitaker [Flickr] Don't Call Dad If you're going to pay someone for sex, at least make sure they aren't 13. Also, don't call the girl's dad if she doesn't show up to your pre-arranged sex romp. Chances are that her father will call the police, who will arrest you for trying to pay a minor for sex. Image via lammersch [Flickr] Don’t Cut If you decide to cut in line to rob a Starbucks, you might want to look at the line as you walk up. If you notice two uniformed police officers, it's a good sign that you probably shouldn't go ahead with the robbery. Not surprisingly, it wasn't too long before the perpetrator was arrested. Image via SFview [Flickr] Don't Set The World Alight Everyone loves to get off work early, but it's one thing to want a half day and another to commit an act of arson just to get off work. Michelle Perrino caught the attention of coworkers when she later talked about how the fire started in a file cabinet before office workers had been informed of the origin of the blaze. Image via shlala [Flickr] Do Your Own Ironing It may not be illegal to be sexist, but it is definitely against the law to hold your mother hostage when she refuses to do your ironing for you. When Robert Edward Tyrrell Jr.'s mother said she wouldn't do his ironing, he yelled, "ironing is woman's work," pulled out a gun and held her hostage for six hours. When he let her go, she drove straight to the police station to report him. Image via akeg [Flickr] Don't Drop the Gun Carjacking is never a good idea, but if you do decide to do it, make sure you hold on to your gun tightly. Raymond Lewis Shepard made the mistake of letting his gun slip and it happened to fall right onto the victim's lap. Naturally, she used the gun against her attackers, who were promptly arrested. Image via Maya The Bee [Flickr] Don't Get Locked Out of The Getaway Car The whole point of a getaway car is to make a quick, nonchalant escape from the scene of the crime. While you don't want the car to be stolen while you are out committing the crime, if you can't keep track of your keys, it might be better to just leave your car open. That's what Jane Murray found out when she returned to her getaway car after a bank robbery. She ended up having to breakout her car window to get back in. Image via Sara. Nel [Flickr] Realize That Paperwork Is Not Your Friend If you enter a bank claiming to have a bomb on you and demand $2000, don't let the manager convince you to fill out a loan application. When the robber agreed, the manager went to the back "to get an application" and called 911. By the time the mock application was finished, the police had already arrived. Image via cityyear [Flickr] Don't Brag If you're making a living by shoplifting from stores and then reselling them online, don't go on a national TV program like Doctor Phil to brag about the scheme. Believe it or not, police and prosecutors do watch these programs and they will arrest you for breaking the law. Image via apdk [Flickr] Don't Use Your Real Name If you're going to do some shoplifting, you probably shouldn't apply to the same store, particularly on the same visit to the shop. If you are going to be so stupid, at least don't use your real name and address on the application so the police can track you down. Image via jon.liu [Flickr] There are plenty of dumb criminals out there, so this is by no means the full extent of lessons to be learned by stupid rule breakers. Feel free to share your bad troublemaker stories in the comments.

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