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2012/01/19

Neatorama

Neatorama


What A 130-mph Car Crash Looks Like From The Inside

Posted: 19 Jan 2012 12:07 AM PST

(YouTube Link)

Watching this cool kit-car Cobra get turned into a pile of scrap metal probably would have looked a lot cooler from the outside, but at least you get to see how crazy a crash like this is from the drivers perspective! Here’s how he describes the incident:

On the front straight doing 130mph, something breaks. The cobra veers hard right and off track. The car leaves a 6O foot gash in the asphalt as it veered before leaving the track and continued for an additional 500 feet off track to its resting point. I received only minor injuries to my left knee and bruised ribs.

Why he records himself driving around the track is anyone’s guess, but I bet he was happy the camera was rolling the day he almost died!

–via Geekologie

A Compilation Of Animals Playing With Tablet Devices

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:48 PM PST

(YouTube Link)

This adorable compilation video features all kinds of little critters getting their game on with tablet devices. Is this the future of gaming, or just a neat way to occupy your otherwise rambunctious pet?

Either way this vid will warm your heart, and may result in scratched screens and expensive electronic devices being destroyed by puppy slobber.

–via TDW

Wacky Flyer Featuring Guard From Skyrim

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:36 PM PST

Apparently you’ve been caught sneaking about Skyrim, pilfering gold and soul gems and such, and now you must choose your fate- go to jail, resist arrest or pay your fine. Sheesh, if only getting arrested in real life was as easy to resolve as it is in Skyrim!

These wacky flyers have been sighted in a city that features red double decker buses (anybody wanna wager a guess from this pic?), and it appears someone has already chosen to Go To Jail. Remember-the guards are always watching, as long as you’re in their line of sight, and you don’t have an invisibility potion in your bag.

Link

Impressive Papercraft Gears Of War Pistol

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:55 PM PST

You may not want to use this bad boy in the rain, because as wicked as it looks it’s made entirely of paper!

Crafted by Leo Firebrand, this paper replica of the Snub Pistol carried by the super soldiers in the Gears of War video game franchise looks badass, but you’d better have a backup weapon when Boomers start crawling out of emergence holes.

Check out Leo’s site for more of his epic papercraft creations, they’re super cool, and can be used as a grocery list when the war is over.

Link  –via Kotaku

10 Awesome Things You Might Not Know About Mel Brooks

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:47 PM PST

This of you familiar with the EGOT (Tracy Jordan’s object of desire in 30 Rock) will know just how hard it is for one person to get the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony combination. In fact, only a dozen or so people have obtained the rare achievement, one of whom is Mel Brooks.

Topless Robot has a list of awesome achievements of the great writer and actor, including said EGOT and the fact that he gave birth to Max Brooks, one of the world’s foremost zombie experts.

Link

Play As Your Favorite Nintendo Characters In Super Mario Crossover

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:44 PM PST

The team at Exploding Rabbit have a gift for any fan of classic Nintendo games, and/or those looking to kill some time online with a really fun retro side scroller- Super Mario Crossover, a custom Super Mario Bros. game that allows you to play through as one of eight playable characters!

You can play as Link from The Legend Of Zelda, Samus from Metroid, Bill Rizer from Contra, Mega Man, even Simon from Castlevania, just to name a few.

Just think how fun it will be to smack Koopas around with a whip, or shoot Bowser in the face when he least expects it, all the while taking in the classic video game soundtrack slightly re-imagined. It’s like the NES threw a party, and you’re invited!

Link  –via ComicsAlliance

This Baby Panda Just Won’t Give Up

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:39 PM PST

(Video Link)

Life is hard as a cute little panda who just doesn’t want to be stuck in its crib.

The Pedal-Powered Porsche

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:34 PM PST

(Video Link)

Can’t afford to tow your baby Corvette with a full-sized one? Then maybe you could use a pedal-powered Porsche instead.

Via BoingBoing

The Net’s Only Sopa White-Out

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:22 PM PST

Working on the web is hard, which is why Fark has decided to take a brave stand, going against the grain to support SOPA and PIPA. This way, if the site gets shut down under the ridiculous censorship bills, the company won’t have to do any more hard work.

While a bunch of other sites are going “dark” to protest SOPA/PIPA, we’re over the moon about the whole thing. Why? Honestly, we’ve been bringing you the latest news happening across the internet for 12 years, and we’re tired. And SOPA/PIPA is the perfect excuse to quit.

While SOPA might be “almost dead,” it’s not quite all the way there, and under various drafts of both SOPA/PIPA, Fark could have its DNS assignment (the thing that turns an IP address, like 10.0.0.1, into words like Fark.com) revoked without notice simply for linking to content that could come under foreign copyright claims. This means, even if it is actual news in and of itself, if we link to it, we can be shut down. And thank God, cause we’re about ready to crack under the strain of being on top of the news all the time.

The post isn’t up anymore because the blackout day is over, but you can read about it over at the link from The Consumerist.

Link

The Whole World in a Drop of Water

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 09:10 PM PST

Did anyone else think of The Little Prince when first seeing this picture? Marcus Reugels, whose work we’ve featured previously, doesn’t describe the meaning of his water drop visions, but they are mesmerizing. And working Batman and Spider-Man into the collection was a great idea.

Link -via Geekologie | Artist’s Website

Great Moments in Government Regulations: The Self-Referential Notice of Florida

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 09:02 PM PST

Blogging regulations require that we post this notice about how the great state of Florida now requires vending machines to have this self-referential notice.

Kudos to the bureaucrats of Florida, who came up with such ingenious plan to create regulations, seemingly for regulations' sake. On another note, how would people know who to call to report a missing notice, if the phone number is on the notice itself? Link - via The Agitator and Metafilter

A True Land Yacht

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:50 PM PST

“Why doesn’t every car have a flybridge?” That was a question posed to custom carmaker Randy Grubb. You’ll ask it, too, after taking a spin in the Decoliner — Grubb’s monument to the majesty of both the Art Deco era and the open road. You can steer it from the roof, which is built like a motorboat console. Or you can peek inside and witness what a craftsman of vision and dedication can accomplish.

Link -via Jalopnik (where there’s a video)

Pooled Oil Paintings

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:35 PM PST

Matthew Davis creates gorgeous paintings by carefully dripping paint over his canvas, adding layers to form images. His technique is particularly effective for water scenes, like the one above. They remind me of the work of another artist we’ve featured recently who also doesn’t use a paintbrush.

Artist’s Website -via Colossal

Jello Origami

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:20 PM PST

With the right mixture, you can actually create durable sheets of gelatin and then fold them. My Jello Americans, a blog hosted by gelatin artists with impressive abilities, has a video that shows you how. Even if you don’t want to make it, be sure to check out their main page to see some amazing works.

Link -via That’s Nerdalicious!

Prius Camper Conversion Kit

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:02 PM PST

According to the inventor, Camp-Inn, this camper can sleep four people. Judging from the interior photos at the link, I’d say that’s a plausible claim. Owners can probably modify it to have a toilet and a galley, but it’d take creative thinking.

Link -via Glenn Reynolds | Photo: Camp-Inn

Previously: Prius Stretch Limo

Why Mona Lisa Smiled

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 07:55 PM PST

It's a cat, of course! Artfully done by Svetlana of Fat Cat Art: Link - Thanks Svetlana!

Previously on Neatorama (also by the same artist): Art with Cats

New Zealand Farmers Want Sheep Shearing to Be an Olympic Sport

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 07:51 PM PST

This is a sport that has no place for the sheepish among you. You’ve got to be tough, fast, and precise with the clippers. That’s why shearing is a competitive event in New Zealand, and some people there want the Olympic Games to host it as a demonstration sport:

Maxwell said men's and women's world record-holders, Ivan Scott of Ireland and Kerri-Jo Te Huia of New Zealand, showed the athleticism necessary to reach the top of world shearing.

"Ivan regained his world eight-hour solo lamb title by shearing 749 lambs, seven more than the previous world record," she said.

"Kerri-Jo smashed the women's eight-hour solo lamb shearing world record by shearing 507 lambs, 37 more than the previous record."

To be accepted on the Olympic program, a sport first must be recognized by the International Olympic Committee by being widely practiced around the world and administered by an international federation that ensures that the sport's activities follow the Olympic Charter.

Link -via MetaFilter | Photo: Flickr user NatalieMaynor

Would You Like to Wear These Crocs?

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 07:32 PM PST

I’ve never worn crocs, but I’ve heard that they’re comfortable. Now I’m not sure why. This pair was made by an Amsterdam-based artist who goes by the name “Sit.”

Link -via My Modern Met | Photo: Jonathan LeVine Gallery

The Bark Side

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 07:30 PM PST


(YouTube link)

Volkswagen unveils their Super Bowl ad campaign. If you sold cars and were going to advertise during a football game, it only makes sense that you would feature dogs barking the Imperial March. Makes perfect sense! -via reddit

The Only Dogsled Special Forces Unit in the World

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 07:25 PM PST

Denmark is responsible for the defense of Greenland. To serve this role over such a vast and harsh land, the Royal Danish Navy maintains Sirius, the only special forces unit in the world that travels primarily by dogsled. Photographer Fritz Hoffman joined one team on its patrol into the frozen wilderness, snapping pictures of the amazing men and dogs who keep the peace there. You can view several more at the link.

Link -via Marilyn Terrell | Fritz Hoffman’s Website

Scientists Create Cyborg Cockroach with Own Power Source

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 06:57 PM PST

Apparently, surviving a nuclear holocaust isn't enough. Science has created a cyborg cockroach, complete with its own power source. What could possibly go wrong?

In a first step toward making these technologically enhanced insects a reality, scientists have devised a way to power bug-robot hybrids by tapping into their own metabolism.

The secret: an implantable biofuel cell powered by a sugar the cockroaches make from their food.

The device doesn't appear to harm the insect either. Neurobiologists on the team implanted the tiny device into the abdomens of five immobilized cockroaches independently, measured the power it produced and removed it. The cockroaches appeared to behave normally afterward, said Daniel Scherson, the senior researcher and a professor of chemistry at Case Western Reserve University.

Although the device converted the sugar into energy slowly, the electricity it generated could be stored in a battery and used in bursts, Scherson said.

What's next? Lasers? Link (Photo: Shutterstock)

Bullet Portraits

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 06:43 PM PST

Is it inappropriate or genius? Or maybe it's both. David S. Palmer used a torch to create portraits of people killed by a bullet, on a canvas of bullet shells.

David wrote:

The materials I have chosen to use serve my purpose because of the blatant and emotionally charged response they evoke. These mediums already have a strong mental imagery that is attached to them. Around the world they are still used to either help build dreams or destroy the dreamers. My hope is that you will feel the agony and then see the miracles that can arise from choosing to create rather than destroy.

His painting of John Lennon shown above, called "Walking in the Light," used 8,000 spent shell casings. David has also drawn Tupac Shakur, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy - all killed by gunfire.

Oddity Central has the gallery: Link | David's official website

People Freaking Out Over The Wikipedia Blackout

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 04:22 PM PST

By now, I’m sure you have all heard about SOPA and PIPA being as how every blog in the world has been talking about them as of late. Even those that are usually apolitical (like Neatorama) have taken a stand against the legislation, but despite all the talk and Wikipedia’s many messages warning about their upcoming blackout, some people still didn’t get the memo.

That’s where Herpderpedia comes in… chronicling the Tweets of people freaking out over the Wikipedia blackout despite the many warnings on the site and the fact that its blackout message clearly describes what’s going on.

Sure the Twitter account will only have one good day, but it’s certain to bring endless enjoyment for the internet snobs around the country.

Link Via Laughing Squid

Rolling in the Deep

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 03:54 PM PST


(YouTube link)

Luc Bergeron, known as Zapatou, mixed 71 different cover versions of the song “Rolling in the Deep” to make this video. There are a lot of talented young people on YouTube. -via The Daily What

Heavy Metal Logos of Pop Bands

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 02:13 PM PST

Hanson as a heavy metal ban? MMMBop to that! In his series DeathPop Club, designer Mark Hall-Patch created a set of logos for pop bands and singers in the style of heavy metal: Link - via Typo Graphical

Virgin Fathered 14 Children

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 01:19 PM PST

36-year-old Silicon Valley computer specialist Trent Arsenault is father to 14 children, yet he’s a virgin. How did he do it? Sperm donation, of course .. and now, the government is trying to stop him:

Trent Arsenault told CNN's Anderson Cooper he has never had sex and "committed 100 percent of my sexual energy for producing sperm for childless couples to have babies. So I don’t have other activity outside of that."

The Food and Drug Administration, however, wants to put an end to Arsenault's activity.

Through his own website, Arsenault connects with Bay Area couples looking to conceive. The website is extensive and lists his medical records, including a list of sexually transmitted diseases he has been tested for, his diet, sperm count, and personality traits.

The federal government is not happy he sells his sperm directly, but Arsenault believes he is helping couples start families.

Link - Thanks Tiffany! | Photo: Sperm Cell from the NeatoShop

Like They Were Taken Yesterday

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 12:21 PM PST

If you browse reddit, you may have noticed that when someone posts a very old picture of a relative, someone always restores and colorizes it as a gift to the submitter. A lot of these amazing photo restorations are done by Swedish artist Sanna Dullaway. She has also colorized many historic photographs.

Dullaway recently started her own business in restoring old photographs, but the website is still under construction. But there are other places to see her work. Link to reddit album. Link to Dullaway’s Flickr stream. -Thanks, özi!

(Images credit: Sanna Dullaway)

Opposites Don’t Actually Attract

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 12:12 PM PST

Despite of what you may have heard, opposites actually don't attract. A new study shows that despite what most people say about seeking a wider circle of friendship (say, in a large college setting, where there are a lot of different types of people available), they typically befriend only those most similar to themselves:

In an ideal world, being able to meet lots of different people at college would lead to a diversity of friends; we’d take advantage of the human variety on display.

But that’s not what happened. Bahns et al. found that students at the huge state school tended to spend time with people who were much more similar to them than students at the small, rural colleges.

According to the scientists, the level of correlation between friends on the survey was higher on 80 percent of the questions at the University of Kansas, suggesting that the undergraduates were using the size of the campus to identify those who shared their precise set of beliefs, habits and attitudes.

Instead of learning from people who were extremely different – who disagreed with their stance on abortion, or didn’t like ultimate frisbee, or never attended football games – the students were obeying the similarity-attraction effect, sifting through the vast population to find the most homologous possible circle of friends. As the researchers put it, “the larger social contexts afford better opportunity for finegrained assortment.”

Link

Valentine’s Domo

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:53 AM PST

Valentine’s Domo – $12.95

This Valentine’s Day give your fresh smelling, apple hating sweetheart the Valentine’s Domo from the NeatoShop. No, we aren’t suggesting that the one you love has a small flatulence problem.  Nor are we saying that your pookiebear might appear slightly frightening to people who don’t know him or her. We are merely saying that the one you love loves Domo.

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fun Domo items and fantastic Air Fresheners.

Link

11 Things You Might Not Know About Winnie the Pooh

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:30 AM PST

Did you know today is Winnie the Pooh Day in honor of his creator, A.A. Milne's birthday? If Mr. Milne were still alive today, he'd be turning 130 and he would no doubt be honored to see that his creation is still bringing joy to children to this day. In honor of Milne and his beloved Pooh Bear, here are a few things you might not know about Winnie and the rest of his pals.

Image Via CorneelW [Flickr]

His name has changed over the years, but not much. When the first A.A. Milne books came out, he was originally called Winnie-the-Pooh, but when Disney acquired the rights to animate the characters, they dropped the hyphen and the hyphenless title became much more popular.

The Pooh stories have broken many book records –even in foreign languages.  It has been published in dozens of languages and the 1958 Latin translation even became the first non-English book to be featured on the New York Times Best Seller List and it remains the only Latin book to ever be seen on the list.

Winnie the Pooh may seem like a silly name for a bear, but it was the name of Christopher Robin Milne's real teddy bear, so it became the name of the bear in the books as well. As it turns out, Christopher Robin named his bear after Winnie, a Canadian black bear that lived at the London Zoo (pictured above in his youth), and a swan named "Pooh" that the family met on vacation. Before the toy was given its famous name, it was originally sold at Harrods with the name "Edward Bear." As for Pooh the swan, he was actually featured as a character in the same poetry book where Milne first introduced Winnie The Pooh to the world, although he still wasn't named in one of Milne's works until a 1925 Christmas story he wrote for The Evening News.

Contrary to many rumors, Winnie's last name is not Sanders. This story was spread because Pooh's house says "Sanders" over the door, but it is generally accepted that the name was put above the door by the home's previous resident and that Pooh just never bothered to take it down.

Most of the other characters were named after Christopher Robin's toys as well. That is, except for Owl, Rabbit and Gopher. Owl and Rabbit were created by Milne and illustrator Ernest Shepard solely to add a little more variety to the character list. Gopher wasn't added until 1977, when the Disney company added the character to their animated feature, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

You can see all of the real plushies that inspired the characters at the New York Public Library. With one exception –Christopher Robin lost his Roo plush in the thirties, so it is sadly missing from the collection.

You can also visit most of the locations from the stories. The Hundred Acre Wood, Roo's Sandpit, Poohsticks Bridget and the rest are all fictionalized names of real places in the Ashdown Forrest in Sussex, England where Milne bought a country home in 1925. For example, the Hundred Acre Wood is really the Five Hundred Acre Wood and Galleon's Leap is really Gill's Lap.

Christopher Robin was less than thrilled about the success of his father's stories. Apparently his grudge started when kids in school picked on him by citing passages from the stories. As he grew older, he accused his father of achieving success by "climbing on my infant shoulders, that he had filched from me my good name and left me nothing but empty fame." I don't know about you guys, but if my dad wrote awesome books about me and my toys, I'd be touched, especially as I got older and realized that if the kids making fun of me used verses from the stories –that they must have been fans of the stories themselves.

While Disney maintained Pooh's classic red shirt look, first introduced in 1932, critics complain that the company has changed the personality and stories too drastically. Strangely, if you prefer your Pooh Bear to be closer to the original, you'll have to sacrifice the character's look as his most accurate animation portrayal has been performed by his Russian version. While Russian Winnei's stories closely follow those depicted in the original trilogy of Pooh stories, he certainly looks drastically different from the illustrations created by artist Ernest Shepard. That’s him in the cartoon above, if you couldn’t tell.

As for Disney, they're doing just fine with their own take on the bear and his friends. It turns out the company makes just as much money from Pooh movies and merchandise as they do from the same creations bearing Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto.

Image Via parodyerror [Flickr]

Of course, Disney hasn't manipulated the stories nearly as much as a few others have. The character has been used by Benjamin Hoff to explain the tenants of Taoism, by Frederick Crews to satirize philosophical approaches used by academics and by John T. Williams to illustrate the works of popular philosophers including Descartes, Pluto and Nietzsche. Apparently the little stuffed bear might just be one of the best philosophers of our time. As if that weren't enough, Kenny Loggins even wrote a song based on the cuddly character.

He has also left his mark on the real world as well. There are streets in Warsaw and Budapest named after him. And the imaginary sport of Poohsticks, where contestants drop their stick in a stream to see whose will cross the finish line first, is now played worldwide and even has a World Championship match in Oxfordshire.

Are you a Pooh fan? Is there anything I left out here? Also, who is your favorite character in the Hundred Acre Wood? Personally, I love Eeyore, but that’s partially because he reminds me of my lazy, mopey dog.

Sources: Wikipedia #1, #2, Mental Floss

Rise Above My Fears

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:12 AM PST

It took me a while to get this juggling image by urban artist ABOVE, who wrote:

it might sound weird to most people but similar to a burglar
waiting and observing a spot for a future hit,
i had been searching the streets for over 9-months for this type of wire setup.

kinda strange how such a simple wire can bring so much excitement to a person.

this "hit" had the foundation laid and with the correct timing
i climbed up a ladder repeatedly a total of 11-times
each with a new layer to make this piece complete.

He found that wire setup in Madrid, Spain: Link - Thanks ABOVE!

Pollution Over Beijing

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:06 AM PST

Cloudy skies over Beijing? Actually, no - the gray haze you see above is pollution.

NASA's Aqua satellite captured the patch of winter haze over the mega cities of Beijing and Tianjin on January 10, 2012:

One major constituent of haze is particle pollution, such as dust, liquid drops, and soot from burning fuel or coal. Particles smaller than 10 micrometers (called PM 10) are small enough to enter the lungs, where they can cause respiratory problems. The density of PM10 reached 560 micrograms per cubic meter of air on January 10, said the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau. By contrast, U.S. cities exceed air quality standards when PM10 concentrations reach 150 micrograms per cubic meter.

But most of the pollution that makes up haze isn’t PM10; it’s finer particles, smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5). These particles can embed themselves deep in the lungs and occasionally enter the blood stream. The fine particles are highly reflective, sending sunlight back into space. The Chinese government does not currently measure PM2.5, but the U.S. Embassy in Beijing reports their measurements hourly in a Twitter feed. On the morning of January 10, PM2.5 measurements were off the scale, though by afternoon they had dropped to moderate levels. The Beijing Environmental Bureau will start releasing PM2.5 measurements sometime before January 23, the Chinese New Year.

You lungs thank you for not living there: Link

Scott’s South Pole Expedition, 100 Years Later

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 09:23 AM PST

Yesterday marked 100 years since Robert Falcon Scott and the others of his expedition reached the South Pole. Photographer Herbert Ponting recorded images of the journey, although he did not personally accompany Scott all the way to the Pole.

Staying behind likely saved Ponting’s life: Upon reaching the Pole, Scott and his team discovered that Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had gotten there first, on December 14, 1911. (Find out how Amundsen won the Pole, in his own words.) Then, weakened by extreme cold and dwindling supplies, Scott’s entire party died on the return journey, in late March 1912.

Ponting’s photographs survived as well, to this day. National Geographic News has a gallery of those historic images posted in honor of the 100th anniversary. Link -Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!

(Image credit: Herbert G. Ponting/National Geographic)

What To Do?

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:32 AM PST

Nitrozac and Snaggy from The Joy of Tech made a comic to cover the site during the internet strike. See, there are things to do that aren’t on the web! Link -via Laughing Squid

Goodbye, Penguins

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:29 AM PST


(YouTube link)

The book by Greg Stones, in video form. -via Everlasting Blort

A Mermaid’s Purse for Breakfast

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:27 AM PST

You’ve seen mermaid’s purses on the beach, in places where skates and rays are common. They are the animals’ egg sacs. Not something you’d think of having for breakfast, but that’s okay, because this dish only looks like a mermaid’s purse! This is made from crepes and eggs, and you’ll find complete instructions for making on at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Windell Oskay)

The Day the LOLcats Died

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 06:57 AM PST


(YouTube link)

A song from LaughPong about the SOPA and PIPA bills now before congress. While many sites have simply gone down for today in protest, Consumerist has a list of posts about the bills you can access to catch up on how the bills came about, why the internet is protesting, and what you can do. Link  -video via The Cheezburger Network

15 Facts to Share During Braille Literacy Month

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 06:54 AM PST

January is Braille Literacy Month. Did you know that? Here are some other things you might not know about Braille.

7. There are three different "grades" of Braille

Every grade represents a different skill level, with 1 being best for those just starting to learn Braille and 3 for the more familiar. Basic letters and punctuation characterize the first, while the second builds off of that to include contractions – making it the most common version found in public. Once a person hits Grade 3 Braille, he or she can learn the shorthand for personal use, such as lists and notes, rather than more formalized literature.

8. "Braille for feet" exists

In order for businesses to meet standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act, Tilco Vanguard developed a veritable "Braille for feet" that assists the visually impaired in knowing the boundaries of dangerous areas. Technically referred to as "truncated domes," these bright yellow strips spell out a universal message in order to keep store and restaurant patrons safe.

Read the rest of the list, and you’ll be a lot more “literate” in Braille than you were yesterday! Link

Existence

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 06:52 AM PST

You know, when someone confides that they sometimes Google themselves, the classic answer is “You’ll go blind!” But this Twaggie, illustrated from a Tweet by @IamMsMoneypenny, strikes close to home for me today. You can see a new Twaggie every day at GoComics. Link

Whatever Happened to Curly?

Posted: 18 Jan 2012 05:30 AM PST

Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.

In 1932, Jerome Howard, soon to be universally known as “Curly” joined The Three Stooges comedy team. Curly was replacing his older brother Shemp as the third stooge, joining his older brother Moe and frizzy-haired Larry Fine. In 1934, the team signed with Columbia Pictures and began churning out the series of comedy slapstick shorts that were to bring hilarity to the entire world. His “Woo-woos” and “Nyuk-nyuks,” as well as his incredible gift for physical, inventive, surreal comedy, make Curly Howard “everyone’s favorite Stooge.”

From 1934 to 1944, Curly Howard and his comedy partners made 80-odd of the funniest shorts in the history of movie comedy. But by 1945, something appeared obviously wrong with the brilliant Curly. He was having a harder time than usual learning and remembering his lines (Curly was always a bad study, anyway). His once graceful, quick movements now seemed slower, more lethargic, and his voice had lost its high-pitched vitality, now sounding deeper and more like a strained croak. In early 1945, Moe Howard made an appointment for his kid brother at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. The hospital test results proved shocking: Curly was suffering from high blood pressure, hypertension, a retinal hemorrhage, and obesity.

Curly loved the good life, drinking, hanging out at clubs, seeing and dating as many beautiful women as possible. Moe, trying to help his beloved brother settle down, tried to fix Curly up with a glamorous beauty named Marion Buxbaum. Always a sucker for a pretty face, Curly married Marion after only two weeks. Curly was soon to discover that Marion was not a very nice person and was only after his money. The marriage proved a disaster, and the unhappy couple divorced after only three months together. In the divorce proceedings, Marion said of Curly: “He used filthy vile language, kept two vicious dogs, he shouted at waiters in cafes, struck and kicked me, put out cigars in the sink.”

These specious accusations were disputed by all who knew Curly as a jovial, good- natured, good-hearted fellow. Curly, always a free spender, had spent a fortune buying gifts for Marion and the divorce really shook him up. He had his first stroke soon thereafter, in early 1946.

Curly’s great vigor and boyish vitality, his comedy trademarks, sank lower and lower. Instead of resting after his stroke, as Moe requested, studio head Harry Cohn kept Curly churning out new Three Stooges shorts. Sadly, this final handful of Curly shorts show him looking very old and worn, his previous starring roles are greatly reduced, and indeed, they do put a bit of a black mark on his otherwise classic body of amazing comedy performances.

Curly’s appearance became worse and worse until finally, while filming his 97th Three Stooges short Half Wits Holiday, on May 6, 1946, the straw finally broke the camel’s back. Curly was supposed to participate in the film’s final, climactic pie fight, and Moe spotted Curly sitting in his chair on the set. “Come on, Babe,’ he said (“Babe” was Curly’s nickname among his close friends). Moe found Curly slumped over in his chair with tears running down his face: Curly had suffered another stroke.

Curly was taken to the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital to recover. His career as a Stooge was now effectively over. He was replaced in the act by his older brother Shemp.

Curly finally got a happy break in 1947. He met an attractive brunette named Valerie Newman. The two fell in love and married on July 31, 1947. Valerie was to bear Curly a daughter, Janie, the following year. She truly loved Curly and was to stick by hs side, through his constant downhill ride over the next few years. Valerie was by Curly’s side 24 hours a day, feeding and bathing him as health continued its slow deterioration in the late 1940s.

After his second stroke, Curly was confined to a wheelchair, but he soon recovered enough to move around himself. Interestingly, in these final days of Curly’s slightly improved health, he made a cameo appearance in a Three Stooges short (with his replacement, Shemp) called Hold That Lion.

Moe, knowing Curly was frail, made sure the set was cleared of all but the absolute most necessary actors and technicians, in order to take any pressure off his brother. Curly, a brilliant comedian to the end, acquits himself quite well in his brief appearance, coming across very funnily, even doing his trademark “Woo-woo-woo!” sound effects. This brief cameo was to be the only recorded instance of the three Howard brothers, Moe, Curly, and Shemp appearing together on film.


(YouTube link)

Curly loved playing gin rummy in those post-stroke days. He also like watching the Hollywood Stars, a local baseball team, and going to the fights at the Hollywood Legion. Crazy about dogs, he loved playing with his beloved pets, a collie named Lady and two other canines named Salty and Shorty. Curly watched the new device “television.” He loved a little kids’ puppet show called Time for Beany. He also watched and admired a young television comedian named Jackie Gleason.

Despite his weak health, Curly still did not give up his beloved cigars. He and Valerie had a swimming pool built in their home, hoping Curly could use it for physical therapy (Curly always loved swimming). During these final years, Curly let his thick, wavy hair grow back, instead of the world-famous shaved dome he had sported as a Stooge. He liked to wear a sea captain’s hat (he had black and white captain’s hats) and, like any new father, he loved playing with and doting on his newborn daughter.

Interestingly, in these final few years of “health,” Curly was still upbeat and seemed happy, not down or sad at all that had happened to him. Contemporary photos show a smiling Curly, happily puffing on his cigar, posing around the house and horsing around with his little daughter.

Tom Emery, a good friend, recalls going on a drive with Curly one day in the late 1940s. Curly spotted a young girl in a wheelchair and told Tom to pull over. Curly went over and talked to the girl at some length, asking her what she was into, what she liked, what she needed, etc. They drove off and Curly bought the little girl everything she had mentioned. He dropped all the goodies off at her home, with no card.

Curly’s stay at his home lasted through the late 1940s, but his health deteriorated again, and on August 29, 1950, Curly was returned to the Motion Picture Home. Missing his pal, the collie Lady, Curly asked Moe if he could bring the dog to stay with him at the hospital (Curly liked sleeping with the dog when he was at home). Sadly, when Moe brought Lady to see Curly, the reticent dog refused to enter Curly’s hospital room, staying outside in the doorway instead.

During the next few months, as he got worse, Curly became confined to bed. He was put on a strict diet of boiled apples and rice. After another stroke, he was moved to the Colonial Home, but it was soon closed down for violating local fire laws. Curly was then moved to the North Hollywood Hospital and Sanitarium.

As a consequence of his strokes, it became harder and harder for him to talk and communicate. One visitor during these last years recalls Curly crying because he couldn’t communicate during one visit. Curly’s sister-in-law recalls visiting him at the hospital and remembers an instance when Curly was very frustrated by  not being able to communicate, as she and the other visitors tried to understand what he wanted. Finally, after a long period of frustration and guessing, they realized poor Curly just wanted a bowl of ice cream. Another visitor recalls Curly trying to sit up in a chair, and remembers Curly’s hand continually falling off the arm of the chair.

Moe was also to recall that Curly had a very tough time communicating as his health ebbed. By the end, Curly could only communicate to Moe by squeezing his hand, sometimes just blinking his eyes.

A hospital supervisor went to Moe and told him that Curly’s physical and mental deterioration was causing the hospital inconvenience and  suggested Moe move him to a mental institution. Moe adamantly refused. Curly was soon moved to his last residence, the Baldy View Sanitarium in San Gabriel, California. It was there, on January 18, 1952, that the great Jerome “Curly” Howard was to pass away. He was just 48 years old.

Jules White, a great director of Curly in many Three Stooges shorts, was to recall one of his final visits to Curly in his waning days. He never forgot Curly’s words to him that day: “Gee Jules, I guess I’ll never be able to make the children laugh again.”

 

From the comments:

Little did Jerome know he is still making the kids laugh, and will continue for generations to come.

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