Neatorama |
- The Legend of Gorgeous George
- Mellow Brick Road
- Lord of The Rings/Star Wars Cross Over
- Maru's Newst Box Adventure
- Circuit Board Paintings
- Reversed Pictures of Parents With Their Kids
- How to Catch a Boat Full of Fish
- Life-Sized Piglet Made out of Pork
- An Unexplained Roman Dodecahedron
- Roman Ships Could Transport Live Fish
- John Cusack in the Rain
- Coming to a Theater Near You - the D-Box
- “Ich Bin ein Berliner”
- 1,000 New Species Discovered in New Guinea
- Paper Pickup Nifty Note
- What an Unbelievable Deal!
- Grease's "Summer Lovin'" in Stop-Action Lego Form
- Dead Bees Used in Ads
- The 20 Most Amazing Treehouses in the World
- Creative Bar Codes
- Kanagawa Kinetic Coffee Table
- Cha Jong-Rye's Wooden Puzzle Landscapes
- Let's Paint the Town Blue
- Kelly Lamb's Skull Chandelier
- Dozer The Goldendoodle Joins Maryland Half Marathon
- Silent Hill Nurse Cake
Posted: 27 Jun 2011 05:09 AM PDT The following is an article from the book Uncle John’s Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader. For the beginning of the history of professional wrestling, see the previous post, The Man in the Mask. If you like professional wrestling you’ve probably heard of The Rock, The Iron Sheik, and Hulk Hogan. But have you heard of Gorgeous George? He was TV’s first big wrestling villain. TV made him a star, and in many ways, he made television. Here’s his story. IN THIS RING, I THEE WED In 1939, a 24-year-old professional wrestler named George Wagner fell in love with a movie theater cashier named Betty Hanson and married her in a wrestling ring in Eugene, Oregon. The wedding was so popular with wrestling fans that George and Betty reenacted it in similar venues all over the country. With the sole exception of the wedding stunt, Wagner’s wrestling career didn’t seen to be going anywhere. After ten years in the ring, he was still an unknown, and that was a big problem: Nobodies had a hard time getting booked for fights. THE ROBE OF A LIFETIME Wagner might well have had to find something else to do for a living had his wife not happened to make him a robe to wear from the locker room to the ring before a fight, just like a prizefighter. Wagner was proud of the robe, and that night when he took it off at the start of his fight, he took such care to fold it properly that the audience booed him for taking so long. That made Betty mad, so she jumped into the crowd and slapped one of the hecklers in the face. That made George mad, so he jumped out of the ring and hit the guy himself. Then the whole place went nuts. “The booing was tremendous,” wrestling promoter Don Owen remembered.
Out of this hatred, George discovered the shtick he was looking for -and over the next several years gradually changed his look. Where other wrestling villains had always been dirty and ugly, “Gorgeous George,” as he began to call himself, set out to become the prettiest, daintiest pro wrestler the sport had ever seen. He grew his hair long, curled it, and bleached it platinum blond. And before each fight, he secured it in place with golden bobby pins and a golden hair net. He amassed a collection of more than 100 frilly, purple robes, made of satin and silk and trimmed with sequins, lace, and fur. He made sure to wear one to every match, and before he would enter the ring, he insisted that his tuxedoed “valet” be allowed to spray the mat, the referee, and his opponent with perfume. Then, as the lights were dimmed and “Pomp and Circumstance” played over the loudspeaker, George would enter he hall under a spotlight and slowly traipse his way to the ring. He made such a show of climbing into the ring and removing (with the assistance of his valet) his robe, his hair net, and his golden bobby pins, that his entrance sometimes took longer than his fights, giving wrestling’s blue-collar fans one more reason to hate him. FIGHTING DIRTY Appearances aside, Gorgeous George was no sissy -not out of the ring and certainly not in it. He fought hard and he always cheated -gouging eyes, biting ears, butting heads, punching kidneys, kicking crotches, and pulling every other dirty stunt he could think of. He gloated when he was winning, squealed and begged for mercy when he was losing, and bawled like a baby when his opponents mussed his hair, which they did every fight. All of this was fake, of course, but the crowds either didn’t know it or didn’t care. They ate it up, fight after fight. Gorgeous George’s antics may not sound like much compared to the wrestling of today, but at the time, they were mind-boggling. He became famous in the late 1940s, not long after the end of World War II. Many wrestling fans were veterans, and the boys who landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day or battled their way across the Pacific, and raised the flag at Iwo Jima had some pretty rigid ideas about what it meant to be a man. And bobby pins, frilly bathrobes, and platinum blond hair were definitely not considered manly. Gorgeous George broke all the rules, and these guys hated him for it. People got in their cars and drove for hours to see him fight, just so they could hate him in person. Gorgeous George made 32 appearances at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium in 1949; he sold out 27 times. A BOOB FOR THE BOOB TUBE But what was most remarkable about Gorgeous George was the impact he had on TV sales. In Los Angeles, wrestling matches -mainly featuring Gorgeous George- were broadcast on TV as early as 1945, and they proved so popular that by the late 1940s, many TV stations around the country were broadcasting live pro wrestling every night of the week. It was the perfect sport for television -the ring was small and easy to film and the action was larger than life, so viewers had no problem following the fights at home on their tiny black-and-white screens. Baseball and football players looked like ants in comparison. TV turned Gorgeous George in to a national star, even for people who didn’t watch wrestling. And in the process, he helped make television the centerpiece of the American living room. Appliance dealers put TVs in their store windows and pasted pictures of Gorgeous George onto their screens. People who’d never owned a TV before came in and bought TVs …just so they could watch Gorgeous George. As Steve Slagle write in The Ring Chronicle,
YOU’RE MY INSPIRATION As we told you in Uncle John’s Legendary Lost Bathroom Reader, a young pro boxer named Cassius Clay, soon to change his name to Muhammad Ali, reinvented his public persona after he happened to meet Gorgeous George on a radio show in Las Vegas in 1961. “That’s when I decided I’d never been shy about talking, but if I talked even more, there was no telling how much people would pay to see me,” Ali remembered. That’s when he started calling himself “The Greatest” …just like Gorgeous George. Muhammad Ali wasn’t the only one -Gorgeous George is credited for inspiring Little Richard …and even Liberace. “He’s imitating me,” George groused to a reporter in 1955. THE FINAL BELL There was, however, a limit to how long American TV viewers could stand to watch live pro wrestling every single night of the week, and by the mid-1950s, the craze had died down. George continued to wrestle until 1962, when a liver ailment -brought on by heavy drinking- forced him into retirement. Nearly broke from two expensive divorces, George had a heart attack on Christmas Eve 1963 and died two days later. He was 48. Ironically, the fame that made Gorgeous George a national celebrity may have also contributed to his death. Believe it or not, he was a reticent person, and for years he had used alcohol to stiffen his spine and give him the courage to be Gorgeous George. “He really didn’t have the nerve to do all those things,” his second wife, Cherie, remembered. “That’s why he drank. When he was sober, he was shy.” _________________________ This article is reprinted with permission from Uncle John’s Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader. Where else but in a Bathroom Reader could you learn how the banana peel changed history, how to predict the future by rolling the dice, how the Jivaro tribes shrunk heads, and the science behind love at first sight? Get ready to be thoroughly entertained while occupied on the throne. Uncle John rules the world of information and humor. It’s simply Ahh-Inspiring! Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you’ll love the Bathroom Reader Institute’s books – go ahead and check ‘em out! |
Posted: 27 Jun 2011 04:23 AM PDT Music from the film The Wizard of Oz remixed by Pogo with charming silhouette animation by Reed Gauthier, who won a competition to illustrate this song. At the YouTube page, you’ll find links to the winners and other competitors. -via Buzzfeed |
Lord of The Rings/Star Wars Cross Over Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:33 PM PDT DeviantArt user Ferret42’s Speedking of Angmar is a seamless blend of two of the greatest movie epics to ever grace the silver screen. Fantasy and sci-fi have never gone so well together. |
Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:28 PM PDT |
Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:21 PM PDT Artist Joe Dragt’s medium of choice is the humble outdated circuit board. It’s a great way to reinject value into something that otherwise may have been thrown away. The paintings work surprisingly well as a backdrop for the organic subjects he uses. Link Via Geekosystem |
Reversed Pictures of Parents With Their Kids Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:08 PM PDT What happens when you switch a parent and a child’s head in a photograph? Pure creepiness and delightful family photos that won’t soon be forgotten, that’s what. Paul Ripke’s Kindsköpfe ("Grown Ups") series is certainly worth taking a long look at. Link Via Laughing Squid |
How to Catch a Boat Full of Fish Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:04 PM PDT Step 1: Get in a boat somewhere near Spoon River. Step 2: Wait. Step 3: FREAK. OUT. According to YouTuber boodhaman:
Asian Flying Carp are an invasive species that is currently wreaking havoc on Midwestern waterways. And as you can see, they’re aggressive. via Laughing Squid via ViralViralVideos |
Life-Sized Piglet Made out of Pork Posted: 26 Jun 2011 07:19 PM PDT Sophie H. Powell and Bonnie Moriarty made this life-sized piglet out of bacon and sausage in order to:
Link -via @itscolossal |
An Unexplained Roman Dodecahedron Posted: 26 Jun 2011 07:00 PM PDT This should be “What Is It? Game 184″ – but we don’t have an answer. Nobody does.
About a hundred of these have been found. Suggested uses include a gambling or game die, a candleholder, a staff decoration, a survey instrument, a toy, a calibration device, or a religious object. Your guess is as good as theirs. Link and followup link. Photo: Portable Antiquities Scheme, British Museum. Additional photos at Wikipedia. |
Roman Ships Could Transport Live Fish Posted: 26 Jun 2011 06:40 PM PDT In order to keep their catch alive (and fresh) until they return to shore, fishermen have traditionally used “stringers” to suspend the catch over the side of the boat. What was thought to be a more modern invention was the “livewell,” a container on board supplied with circulating water. Now archaeologists have discovered evidence that livewell technology was used by the Romans in the second century.
Additional details are at Discovery News. Schematic diagram by Simone Parizzi. |
Posted: 26 Jun 2011 06:35 PM PDT Apparently John Cusack is drawn to movies where the script calls for him to be stuck in the rain. Actually, can you think of any movies he’s in where he’s not getting poured on at some point? |
Coming to a Theater Near You - the D-Box Posted: 26 Jun 2011 06:22 PM PDT In his blog at the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert pans a new technology for movie theaters:
The D-Box seats also (surprise!) involve a higher charge of about $8 to the moviegoer. Further details at the link, where there is also a video history of “Smellovision.” Link. |
Posted: 26 Jun 2011 05:45 PM PDT Forty-eight years ago today, JFK gave one of the most moving speeches in international relations on record. Unfortunately, most people remember this as the “I am a jelly donut” speech due to an unfortunate misconception over the article ein, or the equivalent to a in English. It was the gaffe heard ’round the world, or so most think.
If you’d like to read more about the story or see a transcript of Kennedy’s speech, check out This Day in Quotes. Link |
1,000 New Species Discovered in New Guinea Posted: 26 Jun 2011 04:35 PM PDT It’s always sort of fascinating to me when researchers travel somewhere and “discover” hundreds of new plants and fish–haven’t people in those areas always known about them? I don’t think it counts as discovery so much as an awareness on the part of documented science, but I guess there’s not much distinction between the two on paper. That electric-blue damselfish up there is just one of the hundreds of new fish discovered in the last decade or so. And so pretty!
Check out the pics and some stories about the more interesting finds on the Guardian. Link | Slideshow |
Posted: 26 Jun 2011 01:58 PM PDT
Is your shyness preventing you from getting dates? You need the Paper Pickup Nifty Note from the NeatoShop. Now you can pickup people without every having to say a word. It is so much easier to be confident when you don’t have to look someone in the eye. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Stationary.
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Posted: 26 Jun 2011 01:57 PM PDT If you don’t gobble this deal fast, you’re a birdbrain! Found at Criggo, where you can find lots more newspaper gems. |
Grease's "Summer Lovin'" in Stop-Action Lego Form Posted: 26 Jun 2011 01:36 PM PDT This was YouTube user demondoggz‘ dissertation on stop-motion animation several years ago. Mashable has assembled a You Tube list of the best summer songs ever, but this was my favorite by far. |
Posted: 26 Jun 2011 12:44 PM PDT Sounds gross, I know, but it’s actually a pretty interesting concept. To try to call attention to the bee plight in London, Capital Bee, a campaign that promotes community beekeeping, has created a series of ads featuring dead bees. The bees encounter a number of city calamities, from getting squished on the Tube to the window washing mishap above. |
The 20 Most Amazing Treehouses in the World Posted: 26 Jun 2011 12:33 PM PDT
Link via Prudent Baby |
Posted: 26 Jun 2011 11:16 AM PDT Bar codes don’t have to be boring blocks of black and white. There are several companies out there that design artistic yet fully-functional codes to spice up the back of a package. Check out some of the exceptionally clever ones over at Mashable. |
Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:48 AM PDT
When is a table not a table? When it’s a Strandbeest-inspired kinetic sculpture, of course. This table designed by William “Alex” Mecker is part clean-line modern and part Theo Jansen contraption. I like it.
For more pics, check out Yanko Design. Link via Laughing Squid |
Cha Jong-Rye's Wooden Puzzle Landscapes Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:33 AM PDT Sculptor Cha Jong-Rye carves every piece of her woodworked landscapes by hand, ensuring they fit together perfectly to create finished pieces that look like crumpled fabric, alien mountain ranges, or topographic swirls of tiny spheres. I don’t even know how to calculate how long one of these might take to produce. See lots more of Cha Jong-Rye’s sculptures on Flavorwire. Link |
Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT I can’t imagine living in a city where every paintable surface is the same color, even this lovely blue. But that’s how they roll in Chefchaoen, Morocco; the city’s buildings, walls, stairs, railings, flowerpots, doors–everything, all blue. Founded in 1471, the entire city was painted with tekhelel, a natural dye made of shellfish.
It’s pretty and I understand the symbolism, but I think I’d go with a clean white wall inside–or anything but blue, actually. via WebUrbanist |
Posted: 26 Jun 2011 07:28 AM PDT Artist/Designer Kelly Lamb’s hanging light fixture is creepily elegant. It appears to be made of tiny lightbulbs hung from the ceiling on filaments and arranged in the shape of a human skull although there are no details provided at the artist’s site. This skeletal lighting would fit well with a goth interior. |
Dozer The Goldendoodle Joins Maryland Half Marathon Posted: 26 Jun 2011 06:35 AM PDT Dozer the goldendoodle somehow escaped from his yard in Fulton, Maryland. What did he decide to do with his newfound freedom? He joined in the Maryland Half Marathon and ran approximately 7 miles of the race on his own. When he stopped for water at rest stations people assumed he was running with his owner. After crossing the finish line he made his own way home. He has since received a medal from race organizers and has his own runner’s page on the Maryland Half Marathon website where he has raised $14,000 for the UM Greenebaum Cancer Center. He also has a Facebook fan page with more than 1500 fans! Link – Via Metafilter |
Posted: 26 Jun 2011 06:19 AM PDT Cakehead Loves was commissioned to provide a “disturbing edible experience” based on a scene from the Silent Hill video game for an Alice Cooper freak show audition. Among the gruesome treats to be offered at the event tomorrow is this Silent Hill Nurse Cake by Mamma Jamma Cakes. It was made from six stacked chocolate cake layers and is completely edible. See more pictures at Cakehead Loves Evil (NSFW text). Link (Image credit: Mamma Jamma Cakes) |
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