Neatorama

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• Batmobile Cake
• Darth Hoot
• Drawing with Fire
• C3PO Descending a Staircase and Other Classic Works of Science Fiction Art
• Lawsuit: Defendant Breached a Duty Not to Shoot Bottle Rockets Out of His Bottom
• Why French Parents Are Superior
• America’s Most Miserable Cities
• Can You Identify All of the Cartoons in MetLife’s Super Bowl Ad?
• The Bacon Milk Shake
• This Should Be Facebook’s Theme Song!
• Anatomical Heart Pencil Holder
• Meme Movie Posters
• Super Bowl Cakes
• Motion Feel
• Ridiculous Monsters from the 15th Century
• This Week at Neatorama

Batmobile Cake Posted: 04 Feb 2012 08:19 PM PST Truly Custom Cakery based its cake on the Batmobile from the 1989 movie. Would the Tumbler Batmobile taste better? Or the 60s-era Batmobile? This calls for a comprehensive study. Link -via That’s Nerdalicious! | Bakery Website

Darth Hoot Posted: 04 Feb 2012 07:54 PM PST Costume retailer HalloweenCostumes.com recently held a contest for variations on Darth Vader’s iconic helmet. This feathery one wasn’t among the winners, but I think it’s the cutest. Who could resist obeying his every command? Winners and Other Contestants -via The Mary Sue

Drawing with Fire Posted: 04 Feb 2012 06:52 PM PST Steven Spazuk draws with fire by holding a candle up to pieces of canvas, then adjusting the soot with brushes, knives, and his fingers to create images. I really like his impressionistic works, like the one above. But from a technical perspective, his massive composite portraits consisting of hundreds of smaller pieces demonstrate the magnitude of his skills. Watch a video at the link showing how Spazuk does it. Link | Artist’s Website

C3PO Descending a Staircase and Other Classic Works of Science Fiction Art Posted: 04 Feb 2012 06:35 PM PST Sir, it’s quite possible this staircase is not entirely stable. Nonetheless, C3PO will descend it as Mr. Duchamp requires. John Mattos composed this painting. You can see a roundup of other famous works of art with a science fiction twist at the link. Link -via The Uniblog | Mattos’s Website

Lawsuit: Defendant Breached a Duty Not to Shoot Bottle Rockets Out of His Bottom Posted: 04 Feb 2012 06:16 PM PST Beer + fraternity = lawsuit: A college student claims he was injured when a fraternity member in a “drunken stupor” decided “that it would be a good idea to shoot bottle rockets out of his anus,” and did so, “but instead of launching, the bottle rocket blew up in the defendant’s rectum, and this startled the plaintiff and caused him to jump back,” and fall off the fraternity’s deck. The student is now suing the fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega, for failing to provide a railing for the deck as well as the frat brother who lit the rocket in question. Prediction: Google will not be this young man’s friend in the future. News Link and Complaint -via Lowering the Bar | Photo: Flickr user snackfight

Why French Parents Are Superior Posted: 04 Feb 2012 03:42 PM PST Forget Tiger Moms! The secret to raising great, well-behaved kids is ... being French! Pamela Druckerman explains why French parents are superior: Why was it, for example, that in the hundreds of hours I'd clocked at French playgrounds, I'd never seen a child (except my own) throw a temper tantrum? Why didn't my French friends ever need to rush off the phone because their kids were demanding something? Why hadn't their living rooms been taken over by teepees and toy kitchens, the way ours had? Soon it became clear to me that quietly and en masse, French parents were achieving outcomes that created a whole different atmosphere for family life. When American families visited our home, the parents usually spent much of the visit refereeing their kids' spats, helping their toddlers do laps around the kitchen island, or getting down on the floor to build Lego villages. When French friends visited, by contrast, the grownups had coffee and the children played happily by themselves. By the end of our ruined beach holiday, I decided to figure out what French parents were doing differently. Why didn't French children throw food? And why weren't their parents shouting? Could I change my wiring and get the same results with my own offspring? Driven partly by maternal desperation, I have spent the last several years investigating French parenting. And now, with Bean 6 years old and twins who are 3, I can tell you this: The French aren't perfect, but they have some parenting secrets that really do work. If you've got kids that don't listen to you, this is the one post to read today: Link

America’s Most Miserable Cities Posted: 04 Feb 2012 02:41 PM PST Feeling miserable today? Maybe you live in Miami, Florida. The city - famous for mega-million mansions and South Beach clubs - has just gotten the unenviable title of America's Most Miserable City. Forbes Magazine took a look at 10 factors (including violent crimes, unemployment rates, and foreclosures) for the 200 largest metro areas in the United States to find the 10 most miserable cities in America. See if yours make the list: Miami, Florida The housing crisis has devastated Miami with 47% of homeowners sitting on underwater mortgages. Foreclosures have been rampant with 364,000 properties in the Miami area entering the foreclosure process since 2008 according to RealtyTrac. Detroit, Michigan Detroit has closed schools and laid off police in an effort to avoid a bankruptcy filing this year. Home prices are down 54% the past three years, worst in the U.S. The median price was $38,000 last year in the Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn metro division. Flint, Michigan Flint razed 775 abandoned homes in the year ending October 2011, to try and change the city landscape. The state of Michigan appointed an emergency manager last year to take over Flint's budget and operations. Crime remains a severe problem with the violent crime rate the third worst in the U.S. West Palm Beach, Florida South Florida has long been stained by corruption. One of the latest examples: Jose Rodriguez, the mayor of Boynton Beach (part of the West Palm metropolitan division) was suspended from his office last month by Gov. Rick Scott after he was arrested for allegedly using his position to obstruct a child abuse probe involving his wife's estranged daughter. Home prices in the West Palm area are off 50% since 2006. See the rest at Forbes: Link (Photo: Shutterstock)

Can You Identify All of the Cartoons in MetLife’s Super Bowl Ad? Posted: 04 Feb 2012 01:40 PM PST Who showed up in MetLife's toon-filled Super Bowl ad? And can you find Waldo? Cartoonist Mark Anderson has the answers (and one question in his blog - see if you can identify the mystery character): Link - Thanks Mark!

The Bacon Milk Shake Posted: 04 Feb 2012 12:39 PM PST Resistance is futile. You KNOW you want it. Behold, the Bacon Shake from Jack in the Box. The SFist writes: So, Jack in the Box created a Bacon Milkshake. Why? Because you secretly want one, that's why. Shame on you. The noted fast food chain, it seems, wanted to create bacon-tinged buzz. This will probably do the trick. It's all part of a new ad campaign that asks: If you like bacon so much, why don't you marry it? SFist called our local Jack to ask more about the porky dessert. When we asked if it had real bacon in it, the store manger explained, "Real bacon? Ugh no. It's just a flavored shake, flavored with syrup, I think." We haven't been this intrigued since the advent of the Jumbaco. Link | Here's their not-so-glowing review of the Bacon Shake (you know you'll still want to try one anyway) - via BuzzFeed Can't get one at your local Jack in the Box? Soothe yourself with neat bacon stuff from the NeatoShop's Bacon Store

This Should Be Facebook’s Theme Song! Posted: 04 Feb 2012 11:39 AM PST Poke! Happy Birthday, Facebook! Not only is today Facebook's birthday, but no doubt that you've also heard that Facebook is going to go public soon. The $5 billion IPO will surely be a spectacle to watch - but you know what's missing? A Facebook theme song. That's where Daniel Koren steps in. The New York-based musician and his 10 closest buddies (all clones of himself) called the Koren Ensemble, has created a little something to celebrate the social media giant's growth through the years. Eleven floating heads? What's not to ... um, like? Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - Thanks Daniel! Previously on Neatorama: Daniel's Eleven Heads on 11/11/11

Anatomical Heart Pencil Holder Posted: 04 Feb 2012 11:31 AM PST Anatomical Heart Pencil Holder - $19.95 This Valentine's Day, give your loved one your heart ... Your Anatomical Heart Pencil Holder from the NeatoShop, that is. This sculpted heart can serve as a vase for flowers or pencils and pens. It's an unforgettable Valentine's Day present that your loved one can use every day. Link | View more Valentine's Day gifts | Unusual Pencil Holders

Meme Movie Posters Posted: 04 Feb 2012 07:33 AM PST You’ve seen many minimalist art posters based on movies, but how about minimalist posters for internet memes? Artist Stefan Van Zoggel created 29 of them so far, illustrating both classic and recent memes. Link -via Blame It On The Voices

Super Bowl Cakes Posted: 04 Feb 2012 07:05 AM PST Jen Yates has a roundup of cake wrecks celebrating the Super Bowl. Can you decipher the message on these cupcakes? HINT: It’s starts with the word “gone.” Both teams are represented equally in the collection at Cake Wrecks. Link

Motion Feel Posted: 04 Feb 2012 06:30 AM PST (vimeo link) Once, a short film like this would have been called “experimental.” Now it’s an art form. Shinji Inamoto presents wildly transforming objects for the sake of enjoying the transformations. -via Laughing Squid

Ridiculous Monsters from the 15th Century Posted: 04 Feb 2012 06:09 AM PST This is what happens when the person who actually saw something is not the same person who has the art supplies to illustrate it. They probably never even met, so what you end up with is somewhat akin to the Telephone Game. There are more examples at Buzzfeed. Some drawings may be technically NSFW. Link

This Week at Neatorama Posted: 04 Feb 2012 06:08 AM PST Another in the parade of February holidays is tomorrow: Super Bowl Sunday! Giants vs. Patriots, a rematch of the 2008 game. The ads, of course, are the ultimate efforts of the ad agencies. But I found out years ago that the best will be on the internet the next day. This year, many advertisers are releasing their Super Bowl ads to the internet before the game. That’s honestly a great idea, because that way they won’t get lost in the inevitable “ten best Super Bowl Commercials” lists. You’ve already seen the Budweiser Canada Flashmob and the Bark Side, and no doubt there will be more of “the best” all this coming week. This past week was a lot of fun here at Neatorama, what with Groundhog Day and lots of interesting things to share. Here are our features, in case you missed anything. Eddie Deezen asked the cinematic question Why Did Bill Murray Keep Going Back in Groundhog Day? And then answered it. Jill Harness told about 5 Terrible Inventions From Otherwise Great Inventors. We all have our off days. Time Travel Movie Marathon gave us some great film suggestions, courtesy of Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader. From the Annals of Improbable Research, we had Scientific Dining: Reviews of Research Institute Cafeterias (part one). And mental_floss magazine brought us 5 Lessons from the Gurus of Spin. In the What Is It? game this week, these strange-looking goggles are Masonic Hoodwink Goggles, they were used as a blindfold in rituals of initiation. Edward K knew that, and wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop!  Pismonque came up with a great funny answer: "These are Fear Goggles, the companion to Beer Goggles. When you wake up mostly sober at 5 AM and stumble to the loo, they act as blinders against the horror of discovering your newest intimate acquaintance. The flip-down lids protect against the increasing light of morning and prolong the denial." That wins a t-shirt! Find out the answers for all the mystery items at the What Is It? Blog. The most commented-on post was The World’s First Heartless Man, and they weren’t all jokes. Coming in second was Teaching High School Students to Work at Walmart, which I thought for sure would be #1. After you catch up on everything that’s happened this week, you may want to browse through The Best of Neatorama, where we have all our great feature articles listed -you’re sure to find something that tickles your fancy! Check us out on Twitter and Facebook as well!

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