Neatorama

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• PubMed Goes to the Movies!
• Jaws/Peanuts Mashup
• Catch Me If You Can, I'm in Brooklyn
• Save a Baby Woodpecker? You're Fined!
• Emergency Reboot Button
• Googly Eye Clothes
• New Cologne Lets You Smell Like General Patton
• 98-Year Old Woman Earns 10th Degree Black Belt
• The Diarrhea Dance
• Batmobile Limousine
• Panda Raised by Cosplayers
• GLaDOS Cosplay
• Super Mario Bros. Swing Dancing
• His Sidekick is an Archaeopteryx
• Artist Uses Bananas as Canvas
• Reptangles
• Ten Strange Units of Measurement
• “Rent Is Too Damn High Candidate” Facing Eviction
• Best Body Swap Movies
• Saudi Arabia Begins Construction of World’s Tallest Building
• Killer Plant Eats Bird Whole
• Bowlingheads
• Alchemy Emblems
• Serial Wars
• Wedding Dress Made of Balloons
• World YoYo Champion Pulls Some Strings
• Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbors' Porch Day
• The Noid is Back!
• World Record Swim Attempt
• Narwhal Horns Candy

PubMed Goes to the Movies! Posted: 09 Aug 2011 05:22 AM PDT Why see the film when you can read the article? by Robert E. Pyatt Ph.D. Assistant Laboratory Director Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus, Ohio This is a comparison of classic films and science articles that share the same name. The movie facts come from the Internet Movie Database. Information about the science articles comes from the U.S. National Library of Medicine's PubMed database. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) Starring Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef. Directed by Sergio Leone. Spaghetti Western set against the backdrop of the Civil War where 3 men, the good (Eastwood), the bad (Van Cleef), and the ugly (Wallach), race to uncover a hidden stash of Confederate gold. "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (with Apologies to Sergio Leone)" M.V. Connelly, Facial Plastic Surgery Clinics of North America, vol. 16, no. 2, May 2008 pp. 179–82. Tales of a plastic surgery practice set in a small city including the good (well informed patients who follow all pre and post-op instructions and are "thoroughly pleased with the postoperative results"), the bad (patients who "bring you grief and perhaps damage your reputation"), and the ugly ("disparaging remarks from another surgeon in your area"). A Night at the Opera A Night at the Opera (1935) Starring the Marx Brothers and Kitty Carlisle. Directed by Sam Wood. The Marx Brothers take on high society as the boys help two opera singers find fame and true love. "A Night at the Opera" [no author listed] Mental Health Today,October 2005, pp. 10-1. Touching and comedic tale of "Streetwise Opera," a company which designs, stages, and performs operas with a combination of professional performers and homeless people. Bambi Meets Godzilla (YouTube link) Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969) Written and directed by Marv Newland. Animated short featuring the first silver screen pairing of two of Hollywood's most memorable creatures with the expected tragic consequences. "Psychotherapy Research Evidence and Reimbursement Decisions: Bambi Meets Godzilla" M.B. Parloff, American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 139, no. 6, June 1986, pp.718–27. Like a tender doe standing in a sunny forest glen, "policy guiding reimbursement issues for mental health care" faces off against the gargantuan "research evidence of psychotherapy outcome". Eerily similar ending to its big screen counterpart. Saturday Night Fever Saturday Night Fever (1977) Starring John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney. Directed by John Badham. "The tribal rites of the new Saturday night." Two New Yorkers, Tony (Travolta) and Stephanie (Gorney), discover passion, maturity, and themselves as they disco dance across Manhattan. "Saturday Night Fever: A Common Source Outbreak of Rubella Among Adults in Hawaii" J.S. Marks, M.K. Serdula, N.A. Halsey, M.V. Gunaratne, R.B. Craven, K.A. Murphy, G.Y. Kobayashi and N.H. Wiebenga, American Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 114, no. 4, October 1981, pp. 574–83. It's a whole other kind of fever on this Saturday night as a rubella outbreak infects young adults, with the common place of exposure being a discotheque. Evidence suggests that the virus source was a piano player/singer at the club and that transmission was airborne, rather than person to person, and occurred during his singing. _____________________ The article above is from the September-October 2008 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. You can download or purchase back issues of the magazine, or subscribe to receive future issues. Or get a subscription for someone as a gift! Visit their website for more research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.

Jaws/Peanuts Mashup Posted: 09 Aug 2011 04:39 AM PDT After making a popular mashup of Popeye and Indiana Jones, cartoonist Chuck Forsman decided to recreate scenes from the movie Jaws as though it was a comic strip by Charles Schultz. Read the whole thing at the link. Link -via Nerdcore

Catch Me If You Can, I'm in Brooklyn Posted: 08 Aug 2011 11:51 PM PDT Frank Abagnale this guy isn't. Here's the story of a fugitive who taunted cops by writing "Catch me if you can, I'm in Brooklyn." on his Facebook page. Guess where they caught him: Link

Save a Baby Woodpecker? You're Fined! Posted: 08 Aug 2011 11:50 PM PDT When 11-year-old aspiring veterinarian Skylar Capo came across a baby woodpecker about to be cat lunch, she sprang into action and saved it. When she couldn't find the baby's mom, she took it home to take care of it ... that's when she (and the bird) ran into a danger far worse than the feline menace. They ran into (dun dun dun!!!) a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent: "She was just going to take care of it for a day or two, make sure it was safe and uninjured, and then she was going to let it go," said Capo. But on the drive home, the Capo family stopped at a Lowes in Fredericksburg and they brought the bird inside because of the heat. That's when they were confronted by a fellow shopper who said she worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [...] ... roughly two weeks later, that same woman from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service showed up at Capo's front door. This time, Capo says the woman was accompanied by a state trooper. Capo refused to accept a citation, but was later mailed a notice to appear in U.S. District Court for unlawfully taking a migratory bird. She's also been slapped with a $535 fine. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service later apologized and rescinded the fine, blaming bad press, er ... "clerical error." Link

Emergency Reboot Button Posted: 08 Aug 2011 10:44 PM PDT Emergency Reboot – $11.95 Has the tranquility of your day been broken by a major computer malfunction?  You need the Emergency Reboot button from the NeatoShop.  Push the button, listen to the sirens blare, and feel the power of the robot voice directing you to reboot.  With this fun little toy everyone in the office will understand the severity of the situation. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more hilarious Cubicle Toys. Link

Googly Eye Clothes Posted: 08 Aug 2011 10:43 PM PDT Well, it's no balloon wedding dress, but I'm still all googly-eyed over this googly-eye sequins by Phillipe and David Blond [warning: auto-playing sound]! Link via Evil Mad Linkblog

New Cologne Lets You Smell Like General Patton Posted: 08 Aug 2011 07:16 PM PDT Well, who wouldn’t want to smell like Old Blood and Guts? Here’s your chance. The US Army has licensed a cologne inspired by General George Patton: It's advertised as a woodsy blend of lavender, citrus, coconut, cedar, sage, tonka bean, bergamot, lime, and the ad copy says it will "elicit feelings of majestic woodlands and endless horizons." The US Air Force has one, too. It’s called “Stealth”. The Marines’ cologne is called “Devil Dog”. Link -via Ace of Spades HQ | Photo: Library of Congress

98-Year Old Woman Earns 10th Degree Black Belt Posted: 08 Aug 2011 07:07 PM PDT A few years ago, we mentioned that Keiko Fukuda of San Francisco is a judo master, despite advanced age, arthritis, and triple bypass surgery. Now, at the age of 98, she’s been awarded the highest rank in that martial art: Only three people in the world, all men living in Japan, have ever reached that mark. The martial arts promotion by USA Judo brought 98-year-old Fukuda to tears at the women’s dojo where she still teaches in Noe Valley.[...] She gave up marriage and left her homeland to dedicate her life to judo, fighting gender discrimination that kept her at lower belt levels decades longer than men less skilled than she. Link -via Nag on the Lake | Photo: Lance Iverson/San Francisco Chronicle

The Diarrhea Dance Posted: 08 Aug 2011 06:55 PM PDT (Video Link) This video was is part of a series designed to teach Japanese speakers the English language. Songs and dances help reinforce vocabulary lessons, including this very practical dialogue between a sick person and a passerby willing to call an ambulance. Also, it’s an exercise video. Stand up and dance with me. Come on! -via Geekosystem

Batmobile Limousine Posted: 08 Aug 2011 06:20 PM PDT Well, Bruce Wayne is a billionaire. Why should he drive himself around? This Batmobile was spotted in New York City and was probably based on a Corvette. Video at the link. Link -via DVICE | Photo: Autogespot

Panda Raised by Cosplayers Posted: 08 Aug 2011 06:18 PM PDT Quick, guess which one is the real panda! Tao Tao is a giant panda born at the Wolong Panda wild training base in China, but he has never seen a human face. His caretakers have always dressed in panda costumes any time they were around him! They are training Tao Tao for a life in the wild bamboo forest. See more pictures at Shortlist, where you can also see a video of Tao Tao’s birth and first year. Link -via Buzzfeed

GLaDOS Cosplay Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:56 PM PDT GLaDOS, the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System that appears in the Portal video games, is a rather non-humanoid robot. But deviantART member Silverstar42 created a convincing costume of her for the 2011 Otakon in Baltimore. Link -via Super Punch

Super Mario Bros. Swing Dancing Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:32 PM PDT (Video Link) Morgan Day and Emily Wigger definitely deserved the “Golden Budgie” award at this year’s National Jitterbug Championships. Their swing dancing routine got increasingly geeky by incorporating theme music and elements of game play. -via Comics Alliance

His Sidekick is an Archaeopteryx Posted: 08 Aug 2011 05:21 PM PDT The next Batman movie is being filmed in Pittsburgh. So students at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh decorated one of the city’s 100 fiberglass dinosaurs — your city has those, too, right? — in a Batman costume. Link -via The Mary Sue | Photo: Anirrudh Koul

Artist Uses Bananas as Canvas Posted: 08 Aug 2011 03:07 PM PDT Photo by Jun Gil Park I’ve posted about communicating via banana peel before, but Jun Gil Park takes it to a whole new level. Taking advantage of the banana peel’s natural tendency to brown when pressure is applied, the Australian artist scratches out elaborate scenes. Unfortunately, they don’t last very long. Link via Flavorwire

Reptangles Posted: 08 Aug 2011 01:44 PM PDT Reptangles -  $24.95 Are you looking for a fun and fantastic way to teach your child about geometric transformations or how to build complex polyhydra? You need Reptangles from the NeatoShop.  This vibrant toy comes with 24 adorable turtle-shaped reptangles that snap and slide together in over 100 ways.  This is math made fun! Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more brain boosting Toys & Games! Link

Ten Strange Units of Measurement Posted: 08 Aug 2011 10:45 AM PDT While some may think that feet and inches are "strange" units of measurement in comparison to the metric system, fear not; some people use even more convoluted systems to determine their measurements. What are some units of measurement that you think don't work? What are some obscure ones you think should be used more often? One night, in 1958, a fraternity at MIT charged its pledges with measuring the length of the Harvard Bridge between Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts. The pledges’ shortest member was Oliver Smoot, at 5′7″. He lay down on the bridge, and they rolled his body to measure the length of the whole thing from beginning to end. It ended up being 364.4 Smoots, give or take the length of an ear. The unbelievability of this unit isn’t that it was made, but that it somehow endured as a niche, but popular, unit of measurement. If you walk the bridge from MIT to Boston today, you can still see many helpful lines painted onto it, showing how many Smoots you’ve gone. Link

“Rent Is Too Damn High Candidate” Facing Eviction Posted: 08 Aug 2011 10:40 AM PDT If by anything you may be familiar with "The Rent is Too Damn High" presidential candidate Jimmy McMillan from when he was parodied on Saturday Night Live. Well it seems that real life is more absurd then any sketches as the real McMillan who's only platform is lowering the cost of rent is now being evicted from his NYC apartment because he is not paying enough rent. When he’s not busy planning his 2012 run for the White House, McMillan says he’s drawing on years of expertise to advise his lawyer on how to handle the eviction case. “I told him to file a counter-claim for $70,000,” McMillan said. The case is now pending in Housing Court. The building’s owner, Lisco Holdings, claims in court documents that McMillan has violated his lease because he doesn’t really live in the East Village apartment — he actually lives in Brooklyn. “This is a case where the landlord alleges that it’s not the tenant’s primary residence,” said Robert Goldstein, an attorney representing the firm that owns the building. Link Link

Best Body Swap Movies Posted: 08 Aug 2011 10:32 AM PDT You may think that the "body swap" genre of comedy films is tired and done. You may think that it's really terrible signs of how bad Hollywood can be that there is a "genre" of body swap movies. And you would be right in all of these things. Yet this past weekend "The Change-up" hit theaters. As a tribute this gallery looks back at the "best" body swap movies. Link

Saudi Arabia Begins Construction of World’s Tallest Building Posted: 08 Aug 2011 10:31 AM PDT As we previously covered Saudi Arabia has been planning the construction of the world's tallest building on the out   Now those plans have moved into the actual construction phase. The Kingdom Tower when completed will be two thirds of a mile tall at 3,280 feet and feature top of the line hotels, condominiums and premium office space. The whole project is in an effort to boost the Saudi's economy. Link

Killer Plant Eats Bird Whole Posted: 08 Aug 2011 10:31 AM PDT Venus Fly Traps are famous for eating bugs, but it is apparently a rare occurrence when a carnivorous plant is able to eat an entire bird. Hopefully there aren’t any  “Little Shop of Horrors” plants lurking in the jungle out there that can eat a whole human. The plant is a pitcher plant from the genus of Nepenthes which are found traditionally in South East Asia. The poor bird, which met an untimely demise, was a blue tit. The plant is located in a garden nursery, under the care of Nigel Hewitt-Cooper, who was making his rounds in the tropical garden when he discovered that the pitcher plant had trapped the bird. Link

Bowlingheads Posted: 08 Aug 2011 09:52 AM PDT Yes, it’s a bowling ball. It just looks like the head of a zombie! Artist Oliver Paass painted a set of these balls that were then placed in German bowling alleys to advertise a TV channel specializing in horror films. Link -via @johncfarrier

Alchemy Emblems Posted: 08 Aug 2011 09:02 AM PDT Bibliodyssey has a collection of 14 weird alchemy emblems, which were published in the German picture book Emblemata Nova in 1617. These emblems combined symbols that the reader was expected to decipher, although accompanying captions and poetry helped a little. A commenter called them “flash cards for the insane”! Link

Serial Wars Posted: 08 Aug 2011 08:56 AM PDT If you’ve been following Neatorama for awhile, you are familiar with the work of Sillof. His latest line of pop culture figures imagines Star Wars characters if they had been produced in the 1940s era of sci-fi serials. Get a closer view of each character (the bad guys are there, too) at Sillof’s Workshop. Link

Wedding Dress Made of Balloons Posted: 08 Aug 2011 08:28 AM PDT A wedding dress made of balloons just seems like a disaster waiting to happen, but it’s definitely a bridal look guests will remember. Bonus: no pricey dry cleaning bill after the wedding. And apparently this concept isn’t as original as you would think – Yahoo! has a whole gallery of finery made from balloons. Link

World YoYo Champion Pulls Some Strings Posted: 08 Aug 2011 07:59 AM PDT I can’t even Walk the Dog, so I’m crazy-impressed by Shinji Saiton and his mad yoyo skillz. He took first place in the class 2A division at the World YoYo Contest in Orlando last weekend. Also amazing? Hank Freeman from Duncan, who won first place in the 3A division. Totally different style, but equally impressive. Link via Geeks are Sexy

Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbors' Porch Day Posted: 08 Aug 2011 07:47 AM PDT Just the other day, my husband asked if I like zucchini, because someone wanted to give us some. No! No way! Because I know they would bring at least a bushel, and then return with more. Zucchini is notoriously easy to grow and provides a bountiful harvest. Therefore, those who grow it have a lot to share. That’s why August 8th is Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbors’ Porch Day. Wellcat has some zucchini recipes, and a list of the top 20 ways to get rid of excess zucchini. Unfortunately, the list only has six items so far, and does not include the obvious sneaking them onto your neighbor’s porch. Here’s a sample: 1)    Carefully place a dozen or more zucchini in a large, sturdy black plastic trash bag, then add a couple layers of unwanted clothing. Drive to nearest Goodwill or Salvation Army, hand over bag to nearest volunteer. Politely refuse any offered receipt. Leave quickly. 2)    Look for out of the way places which have signs posted, “Clean Fill Wanted.” 3)    Reserve 1/2 of the space in large, upright freezer, gather all available plastic containers & freezer bags. Drink a vat of your favorite caffinated beverage, in preparation for staying up round the clock to puree large quantities of zucchini. This can then be packaged neatly and artistically labeled: “For Zucchini Nut Bread Recipe.” These packages can be freely given, along with copies of recipe, to anyone on your Christmas list. [Ed. note: I solemnly promise that I will eventually post this recipe.] Link -via the Presurfer (Image credit: Flickr user Till Westermayer)

The Noid is Back! Posted: 08 Aug 2011 07:45 AM PDT Looks like Domino’s is capitalizing on the trend of revitalizing ’80s and ’90s ad campaigns and programming, because the Noid is back! (Remember when he had his own video game?) If you like Domino’s on Facebook, you can play their Noid shootout game and receive a coupon for a free pizza if you’re the high scorer that round. I played once and didn’t even come close to winning, but you’re probably much more talented than I am. Good luck. Link via Mashable

World Record Swim Attempt Posted: 08 Aug 2011 07:18 AM PDT (video source) Reknowned distance swimmer Diana Nyad {wiki} is almost 62 years old. But she is swimming today, off the coast of Cuba, heading to Key West. She entered the water just before Sunset last night. This time, instead of a shark cage, she will be surrounded by an electronic shark deterrent. The swim, if successful, is expected to take 60 hours. Link CNN has an interactive map with which you can follow her progress. Link

Narwhal Horns Candy Posted: 08 Aug 2011 06:58 AM PDT Narwhal Horns Candy – $3.95 Are you crazy about narwhals? Well, you are going to love the Narwhal Horns Candy from the NeatoShop.  This fantastic arctic mint flavored candy is shaped like little narwhal horns.  Unicorns of the sea are awesome! Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Mints & Candies. Link

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