Neatorama

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• Animated Music Video – Robo-Redneck
• This Could Be Fun
• The Crooked House Of Poland
• A Traditional Peruvian Wedding…With Dogs
• Have You Seen Schrodinger’s Cat?
• Bad Consumer, No Doughnut!
• The New Look Of Chuck E. Cheese
• How to Make Plumber’s Crack More Attractive
• A Life-Size LEGO Forest in the Australian Outback
• Man Has Argument with His 12-Year Old Self Courtesy of an Old VHS Tape
• A Handy Guide to the Snake Fight Portion of Your Thesis Defense
• Inked
• Chickens Dressed as Famous Historical Figures
• Stabilized Like a Segway, This Motorcycle Won’t Tip Over
• Political Partisanship Gap is Larger Than Ever
• King of Great Britain Dies in Australia
• Man Hidden in a Pile of Wood by Gyula Várnai
• Learning Your Colors With Andy Warhol
• My Little Tick
• Crazy Cute Cuscus Caption Contest Winners
• Exam From Hell: Drunk Teacher Forced Students to Take 23-Hour Exam
• The Amazing Spider-Man Mystery Box Winners
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Van by Jason Ybarra
• Chair/Chair
• Zoo to Send Orangutan to a Private Island to Quit Smoking
• Chinese Puzzle Ball
• Dark Matter Bridge Connects Galaxies
• Missed Connections: Trader Joe Farter
• Grey Goose Bangles Bottlehood Jewelry
• LEGO Bridge
• Space Fireworks
• Me The People: Is “the pursuit of Happiness” Wrecking America?
• Lifeguard Fired for Saving a Drowning Man
• Oz the Great and Powerful
• Life Without Plastic
• Big Bay Boom is a Bust
• 30 Squirrels Escape from Zoo, 38 Recaptured
• Full Moon Names
• Hello Kitty House Insulated Lunch Kit
• Welcome Home
• Oscar Pistorius Makes Olympic Team
• What Is It? game 232
• First Bite
• The Only Actor Who was in a Beatles Movie and an Elvis Movie

Animated Music Video – Robo-Redneck Posted: 06 Jul 2012 04:30 AM PDT (YouTube Link) Mike Judge is back, and this time he’s directing the animated music video for Zac Brown Band’s song The Wind. The short is called “Robo-Redneck”, so you know what you’re in for-a kooky little cartoon full of Mike Judge’s signature humor and a scifi spoof set in the deep south. Git’er done, Robo-Redneck! –via Cartoon Brew

This Could Be Fun Posted: 06 Jul 2012 04:10 AM PDT If your dinner parties have become a bit dull, maybe the problem isn’t the conversation, but the table. With the Swing Table, things are sure to pick up and if they don’t, you can always throw a tantrum that sends the plates flying. Either way, it’s a guaranteed good time! Link Via Geekologie

The Crooked House Of Poland Posted: 06 Jul 2012 03:40 AM PDT Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with your computer monitor, the architects who designed Krzywy Domek, the Crooked House of Sopot, Poland are just messing with your head! This crazy warped vision of modern architecture was created in 2004 as a unique and magical place to shop, and the fun doesn’t stop when you walk through the door because the interior is just as kooky as the exterior. Link  –via Laughing Squid

A Traditional Peruvian Wedding…With Dogs Posted: 06 Jul 2012 03:19 AM PDT (Video Link) Isn’t it…romantic? Sorry…I’m getting choked…up. I always cry…at weddings. Via I Can Has Cheezburger

Have You Seen Schrodinger’s Cat? Posted: 06 Jul 2012 03:14 AM PDT Technically, if you’ve seen Schrodinger’s cat then you cheated. Well the least you could do is return his box. Link

Bad Consumer, No Doughnut! Posted: 06 Jul 2012 02:13 AM PDT If you’ve ever worked in retail, then you know just how terrible some customers are. Fortunately, if you want to feel better about your own experiences, there’s now a great Reddit thread filled with venting retail workers, some of whom have the worst stories I’ve ever heard, like this one: Yesterday while I was helping out in Best Buy, a woman approached me with a pink plastic phone case asking how many txt messages it could store in an inbox…. I said she needed to have a cell phone for that. She clearly did not understand. After about 10 minutes of trying to explain that the case was solely for style/protective purposes, I sent her over to the phone department and let them deal with her for the next HOUR. Working at Guitar Center, I have a few terrible stories of my own. What about you guys? Feel free to share them in the comments. Link Image Via Tanya Dawn [Flickr]

The New Look Of Chuck E. Cheese Posted: 06 Jul 2012 01:39 AM PDT Chuck E. Cheese, beloved icon of animatronic rock band pizzatainment, has been killed and replaced with the ratty little rocker you see before you. Childhood is now dead and rolling in it’s little plastic coffin, and token flavored pizza will never taste the same again. How are they going to make a mascot costume for this guy, are they gonna throw a ratty head on some hairy scenester who doesn’t get enough sun? Or are they just going to beam him into the establishments via hologram? Maybe he’s starting a new band with Tupac… Link

How to Make Plumber’s Crack More Attractive Posted: 06 Jul 2012 01:12 AM PDT These shirts were printed specifically for a photo shoot by Markus Mueller, but I think they should become a reality and become the new, official uniform of plumbers across the world. Link Via BoingBoing

A Life-Size LEGO Forest in the Australian Outback Posted: 06 Jul 2012 12:00 AM PDT Plastic life emerged in this desert near the mining town of Broken Hill, Australia. LEGO’s marketing division for Australia and New Zealand planted 15 life-sized LEGO trees and flower beds. View more pictures at the link. Link | Photo: LEGO

Man Has Argument with His 12-Year Old Self Courtesy of an Old VHS Tape Posted: 05 Jul 2012 11:30 PM PDT (Video Link) Stop scrolling and watch this video. It’s the funniest and awesomest thing you’ll see all day. When he was 12, Jeremiah McDonald made a video message for his future self. Now, 20 years later, he sticks the tape into his VCR and has a conversation with himself. Both are kind of disappointed with each other. -via io9 | McDonald’s Website

A Handy Guide to the Snake Fight Portion of Your Thesis Defense Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:30 PM PDT Your defense is tomorrow and you haven’t prepared?! What were you thinking? Your entire career is riding on your performance! Here, read Luke Burns’s FAQ on the subject: Q: Do I have to kill the snake? A: University guidelines state that you have to "defeat" the snake. There are many ways to accomplish this. Lots of students choose to wrestle the snake. Some construct decoys and elaborate traps to confuse and then ensnare the snake. One student brought a flute and played a song to lull the snake to sleep. Then he threw the snake out a window. Q: Does everyone fight the same snake? A: No. You will fight one of the many snakes that are kept on campus by the facilities department. Q: Are the snakes big? A: We have lots of different snakes. The quality of your work determines which snake you will fight. The better your thesis is, the smaller the snake will be. Let us not forget that Alex, the founder and owner of Neatorama, has not one but two doctoral degrees. And in the natural sciences at that. For his dissertation defense, he had to fight two snakes simultaneously. If you ever meet Alex, he’ll gladly tell you about it. Here at the office, we’ve all heard the story. Many, many, many times. Link -via Boing Boing | Photo: Patrick Feller

Inked Posted: 05 Jul 2012 09:30 PM PDT That’s not a tattoo, but ink from a gel pen. Chinese artist Pinpin Co spends about five hours decorating each of her subjects with whimsical patterns. The ink rubs off or washes away. But for a short time, her human canvases bear extraordinary markings. Artist’s Website -via Spoon & Tomago

Chickens Dressed as Famous Historical Figures Posted: 05 Jul 2012 08:30 PM PDT Chickens, which outnumber humans, have become what two Smithsonian magazine writers call “the ubiquitous food of our era.” As part of its exploration of the history of chicken as a source of food for humans, the magazine asked photographer Timothy Archibald to dress raw chickens as personages from human history. He selected, among others, Julius Caesar, Abraham Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth and Albert Einstein. Pictured above is that dominating figure from a dubious version of Chinese culinary history, General Tso. Link -via VA Viper

Stabilized Like a Segway, This Motorcycle Won’t Tip Over Posted: 05 Jul 2012 07:30 PM PDT Daniel Kim is nothing if not ambitious. His goal is to revolutionize personal transportation by combining the best elements of a car and a motorcycle. The result of his work is the prototype C1–an enclosed motorcycle that uses gyroscopic stabilizers to remain upright: Cars, by Kim's reckoning, are most often a waste of space and, for the most part, they're terribly inefficient. Motorcyles are far more efficient but they're dangerous. The C1 is gyroscopically stabilized – sort of along the lines of a Segway – so it can't tip over. It delivers 1,300-foot-pounds of torque and has about 200 miles of range or, as Lit employee Ryan James put it, "three times the range with one-third the battery requirement" of electric cars. A regenerative braking system helps goose the range and airbags protect the occupants. Link -via Althouse | Photo: Lit Motors (where there’s a video)

Political Partisanship Gap is Larger Than Ever Posted: 05 Jul 2012 07:00 PM PDT It's not just your imagination or the wild claims of media: political partisanship is indeed growing. Annual polling by the Pew Research Center showed how partisan polarization rose sharply in the past several years: As Americans head to the polls this November, their values and basic beliefs are more polarized along partisan lines than at any point in the past 25 years. Unlike in 1987, when this series of surveys began, the values gap between Republicans and Democrats is now greater than gender, age, race or class divides. Overall, there has been much more stability than change across the 48 political values measures that the Pew Research Center has tracked since 1987. But the average partisan gap has nearly doubled over this 25-year period – from 10 percentage points in 1987 to 18 percentage points in the new study. Nearly all of the increases have occurred during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. During this period, both parties’ bases have often been critical of their parties for not standing up for their traditional positions. Link

King of Great Britain Dies in Australia Posted: 05 Jul 2012 06:30 PM PDT Mike Hastings of Jerilderie, Australia passed away at the age of 71. He was a forklift driver by trade. But according to one understanding of British history, he should have sat on the royal throne in place of Elizabeth II: He made international headlines in 2004 when a documentary team from Britain’s Channel Four conducted extensive research into the monarchy and concluded his ancestors were cheated out of the crown in the 15th century. [...] Hastings was a descendant of England’s House of York, whose dynastic struggle with the House of Lancaster became known as the Wars of the Roses and was dramatised by William Shakespeare. The British documentary’s historian Michael Jones found documents in France’s Rouen Cathedral that he believed showed King Edward IV, who ruled with a brief interruption from 1461 to 1483, was illegitimate. Jones believes that Edward’s father Richard of York was fighting the French at Pontoise when he was conceived, while his mother Cecily was 200 kilometres (125 miles) away at Rouen, allegedly in the amorous arms of an English archer. If true, the crown should have passed on to Edward’s younger brother George, the duke of Clarence, who was a direct ancestor to Hastings. Link -via Slate | Photo: AFP/William West

Man Hidden in a Pile of Wood by Gyula Várnai Posted: 05 Jul 2012 06:00 PM PDT The next time you stack a cord of fireword, try making a hidden image, like Hungarian artist Gyula Várnai did with this pile of logs: To build the piece, Várnai piled logs of different sizes, shapes, and colors into this creative pattern to form the silhouette of a crouching man. When standing close to the pile, or viewing it from a side angle, you may not notice the man's form. Viewers must distance themselves from the piece in order to see the human figure come alive on the surface of the wood. My Modern Met has the pics: Link

Learning Your Colors With Andy Warhol Posted: 05 Jul 2012 05:41 PM PDT     Andy Warhol’s Colors – $6.95 Are you looking for a board book for your toddler that is modern, culturally relevant and artistic? You need Andy Warhol’s Colors from the NeatoShop.  This hip baby book allows children to learn their colors as they explore the wonderful world of Andy Warhol’s pop art. Andy Warhol’s colors is sure to have more than 15 minutes of fame in your house. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fabulous Children’s Books! Link

My Little Tick Posted: 05 Jul 2012 05:30 PM PDT Evil, chum, is a deceptive cutie mark on the rump of Ponyville’s underworld. Our mission is to harness it with the bridle of justice. Etsy seller PoniesofDooom has prepared us for that noble task. Link

Crazy Cute Cuscus Caption Contest Winners Posted: 05 Jul 2012 05:16 PM PDT Zombie Beanie Zombie Bottle Opener Zombie Head Decanter Congratulations to the winners of Neatorama's Caption Contest: Crazy Cute Cuscus, with prizes from the Zombie Shop. Many of you submitted awesome captions, so it was quite a challenge to pick the funniest three. Here are the winners: "A party for Meeeeeeeee?" by brandy "I am not the Cuscus you are all looking for." by primustor "Ice Age 7, Chillin’ with Man" by yupitsme1234 Congratulations again to the winners and thank you for playing, everyone! See you next week in another round of caption contest fun.

Exam From Hell: Drunk Teacher Forced Students to Take 23-Hour Exam Posted: 05 Jul 2012 05:00 PM PDT Think that your professor is bad? Try this one for size: A lecturer at a Russian university allegedly submitted students to a 23-hour exam without food or lavatory breaks while she was drunk. Landysh Zaripova is said to have mostly ignored students and rambled about her business interests and her love for clothes during the marathon science test at Kazan Federal University, in central Russia. Link (Photo: Shutterstock)

The Amazing Spider-Man Mystery Box Winners Posted: 05 Jul 2012 04:59 PM PDT Congrats to the winners of the The Amazing Spider-Man Mystery Box contest! Our favorite entries: "Spider-Man toilet paper. It’s weblike properties will catch anything that may fly away." by Todd McCoy "It contains Spider-Man's favorite rice - Uncle Ben's" by Hoopajoob "Please be Channing Tatum in a Spider-Man thong…** please, please, please **" by Wendy Doyle "Spray on Web Condoms... Tragically ineffective" by Harold Southerland NeatoShop items winners: Battle Damage Han Solo in Carbonite Ice Tray Support Cloning "A special Spider-Man protective cup" by Gord "C02-powered whipped cream dispensers you can wear on your wrists. Every barista will want them." by Handwasher "Schrodinger’s Spider" by Shade53 Congrats everyone! Thank you to Hasbro for The Amazing Spider-Man mystery box and for all of you who played! Please visit the NeatoShop for more neat stuff - your purchase helps support the blog!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Van by Jason Ybarra Posted: 05 Jul 2012 04:00 PM PDT Cowabunga, dudes! Jason Ybarra loves Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so much that he made a full-scale street-legal version of the TMNT van. Jason's Turtles Van is featured in this week's Star Cars over at Crave Online. Check it out: Link - Thanks Brad! Previously on Neatorama: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Van (by Brittney Schneck) | Station Wagon

Chair/Chair Posted: 05 Jul 2012 03:00 PM PDT C-H-A-I-R what does that spell? Designer Eric Ku made the Chair/Chair chair (say that three times fast!) that is exactly the sum of its alphabetic parts: Link - via Design Milk

Zoo to Send Orangutan to a Private Island to Quit Smoking Posted: 05 Jul 2012 02:30 PM PDT [YouTube clip] It's hard to quit. So when zookeepers in Indonesia want to help Tori the orangutan to quit smoking, they decided to take drastic measures: Tori learned to smoke 10 years ago by imitating zoo visitors, who would throw their cigarette butts into her open cage. She has been smoking ever since, according to activists. They say she holds up two fingers to her mouth to indicate she wants a cigarette and becomes angry and throws things if none are readily available. Keepers at Taru Jurug zoo in Solo have unsuccessfully tried luring the ape away with food and extinguishing the butts with water. Now the zoo, with help from the Borneo-based Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP), plans to move the 15-year-old primate and her partner to a small island on the premises by August. They hope the large trees, rope swings and views over the facility will make Tori forget about her nicotine fix. Link Previously on Neatorama: The Smoking Orangutan

Chinese Puzzle Ball Posted: 05 Jul 2012 02:00 PM PDT Long before Rubik's cube, there was the Chinese puzzle ball: a set of intricately carved, concentric spheres usually up to 7 layers deep. The "puzzle" part of the name is both for the fact that it's a game that people can solve (by aligning the holes of the spheres) and by the mind-bending question of how they are made in the first place. So how exactly are these puzzle balls made? Oddity Central has the answer: Link (photo: KW Monster)

Dark Matter Bridge Connects Galaxies Posted: 05 Jul 2012 01:30 PM PDT Image: Jörg Dietrich, University of Michigan/University Observatory Munich Scientists have discovered a "bridge" made of dark matter that connect clusters of galaxies: A ‘finger’ of the Universe’s dark-matter skeleton, which ultimately dictates where galaxies form, has been observed for the first time. Researchers have directly detected a slim bridge of dark matter joining two clusters of galaxies, using a technique that could eventually help astrophysicists to understand the structure of the Universe and identify what makes up the mysterious invisible substance known as dark matter. According to the standard model of cosmology, visible stars and galaxies trace a pattern across the sky known as the cosmic web, which was originally etched out by dark matter — the substance thought to account for almost 80% of the Universe’s matter. Soon after the Big Bang, regions that were slightly denser than others pulled in dark matter, which clumped together and eventually collapsed into flat ‘pancakes’. “Where these pancakes intersect, you get long strands of dark matter, or filaments,” explains Jörg Dietrich, a cosmologist at the University Observatory Munich in Germany. Clusters of galaxies then formed at the nodes of the cosmic web, where these filaments crossed. Link

Missed Connections: Trader Joe Farter Posted: 05 Jul 2012 01:00 PM PDT This Craigslist's Missed Connection of a man seeking a certain odoriferous tall brunette he met at Trader Joe's wouldn't have happened if she'd been wearing the anti-fart pad. Via  CubicleBot

Grey Goose Bangles Bottlehood Jewelry Posted: 05 Jul 2012 12:47 PM PDT Grey Goose Bangles Bottlehood Jewelry – $24.95 Are you looking for a deliciously fun summer accessory to polish your look?  You need the  Grey Goose Bangles Bottlehood Jewelry from the NeatoShop. This mouthwatering set of 2 large bracelets is made from the recycled glass of a Grey Goose Bottle. Wearing your drink just took on a whole new meaning. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more satisfying Apparel & Accessories. Link

LEGO Bridge Posted: 05 Jul 2012 12:31 PM PDT German street artist Megx converted a bridge in Wuppertal in Germany into a giant LEGO structure! Link - via Colossal

Space Fireworks Posted: 05 Jul 2012 12:15 PM PDT Image: Yves Grosdidier (University of Montreal and Observatoire de Strasbourg), Anthony Moffat (Universitie de Montreal), Gilles Joncas (Universite Laval), Agnes Acker (Observatoire de Strasbourg), and NASA/ESA Did you enjoy spectacular fireworks display yesterday on Fourth of July? (Well, maybe not those of you in San Diego, though that is spectacular on its own right). Take a look at these celestial fireworks set off millions of years ago. This one above is from the start WR124: This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope picture of the energetic star WR124 reveals it is surrounded by hot clumps of gas being ejected into space at speeds of over 150,000 kilometres per hour, somewhat resembling an aerial fireworks explosion. Check out more at SPACE.com: Link

Me The People: Is “the pursuit of Happiness” Wrecking America? Posted: 05 Jul 2012 11:37 AM PDT Illustration: Joe Mortis Life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That famous phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence belies the cornerstone of the founding of America. But is the "pursuit of Happiness" part wrecking the country today? Kurt Andersen of The New York Times opines how American individualism - undoubtedly the source of the country's greatest achievements, can also spell its downfall: then came the late 1960s, and over the next two decades American individualism was fully unleashed. A kind of tacit grand bargain was forged between the counterculture and the establishment, between the forever-young and the moneyed. Going forward, the youthful masses of every age would be permitted as never before to indulge their self-expressive and hedonistic impulses. But capitalists in return would be unshackled as well, free to indulge their own animal spirits with fewer and fewer fetters in the forms of regulation, taxes or social opprobrium. “Do your own thing” is not so different than “every man for himself.” If it feels good, do it, whether that means smoking weed and watching porn and never wearing a necktie, retiring at 50 with a six-figure public pension and refusing modest gun regulation, or moving your factories overseas and letting commercial banks become financial speculators. The self-absorbed “Me” Decade, having expanded during the ’80s and ’90s from personal life to encompass the political economy, will soon be the “Me” Half-Century. Link

Lifeguard Fired for Saving a Drowning Man Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:56 AM PDT Tomas Lopez is a lifeguard in Florida who got fired because he saved a drowning man's life. If you think that's odd because that's exactly what a lifeguard's supposed to do, he was fired because the man was swimming outside of his zone: "The reason I was fired is just ridiculous," Lopez told CNN late Wednesday night. "It is a ridiculous rule, really. What was I supposed to do? Just let the guy drown?" The incident occurred Monday at Hallandale Beach in southern Florida. Orlando-based Jeff Ellis and Associates, the company Lopez worked for, said lifeguards cannot go beyond the perimeter of the beach they are responsible for overseeing. CNN has the story: Link

Oz the Great and Powerful Posted: 05 Jul 2012 10:00 AM PDT Disney’s new movie Oz the Great and Powerful is a prequel to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. It follows the story of how the wizard came to be in the land of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (played by James Franco), a small-time circus magician with few ethics, is whisked away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he's hit the jackpot with fame and fortune being his for the taking. But unfortunately for Oscar, his luck is about to run out – He unwittingly runs into three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. The film is scheduled to hit theaters on March 8, 2013. Link -via Laughing Squid

Life Without Plastic Posted: 05 Jul 2012 09:30 AM PDT Sandra Krautwaschl, of Graz, Austria, was astonished by the amount of plastic trash on the beaches of Croatia, where recycling is not done on the scale of her native country. She wondered what it would be like to not have all that plastic in her family’s daily life. The Krautwaschl-Rabensteiners decided to try and live a normal life without plastic, for a short period of time, to see if it could be done. Only what started as a month-long experiment eventually turned into a way of life. The first thing they did was try to eliminate all plastic objects from their home, in Eisbach. The front cover of Sandra's book is a photo of her family surrounded by all their plastic possessions in front of their house. It says a lot about how important a role plastic has in our everyday lives. Next, they had to find alternatives, starting with wooden-handle toothbrushes, metal milk canisters, and food packaged in metal, paper or glass. They admit this radical change was difficult at first, and required ample research, but it also altered their entire shopping philosophy, in that they learned to stop and think if they really needed a product before buying it. Read about how they did it at Oddity Central. Link -via Nag on the Lake (Image credit: Sandra Krautwaschl)

Big Bay Boom is a Bust Posted: 05 Jul 2012 09:00 AM PDT (YouTube link) The Big Bay Boom fireworks display in San Diego was supposed to be a 20-minute patriotic display. However, all the fireworks in three different barges in the bay went off prematurely at the same time, for an explosive display lasting almost a half-minute. Coast Guard officials said it appeared that entire battery of explosives on three of the four launch barges was launched at the same time, possibly due to a “premature ignition.” “It looked like the finale … you know, right at the end they shoot off everything.” said Rich Dann, a civilian Coast Guard employee at the San Diego station. Port officials said on the agency’s Twitter page that they “sincerely apologize for the technical glitch that affected Big Bay Boom. Event producers are currently investigating the cause.” Link -via Buzzfeed

30 Squirrels Escape from Zoo, 38 Recaptured Posted: 05 Jul 2012 08:30 AM PDT A typhoon wrecked the squirrel enclosure of the Inokashira Park Zoo in Tokyo last week, resulting in the escape of 30 squirrels. Attempts to recover the animals have been quite successful; at one count, 38 squirrels have been “recaptured.” So why the mysterious additional squirrels? Zoo officials have come up with a number of explanations. According to Japan Today, zoo official and animal biology specialist Hioshi Mashima said on Friday, "More than 40 squirrels must have gotten away in the first place. There are no wild squirrels inhabiting this area. That is for sure." Mashima said the zoo could not be precise on the exact number of squirrels it currently has in it possession "because they are difficult to catch, and they keep reproducing." But another zoo official, Eri Tsushima, told the Japan Times on Friday that animal handlers may have actually swept up wild squirrels from outside the zoo's walls, noting that the zoo implants a microchip in each one of its squirrels and that each animal taken into captivity would be checked for the microchip. Meanwhile, the zoo continues to get calls about runaway squirrels at large in Tokyo. Link (Image credit: Flickr user su neko)

Full Moon Names Posted: 05 Jul 2012 08:00 AM PDT Every full moon has a name, and often two or three names. The full moons are named by month, and again by where it falls in the season, and the second full moon in a month is a “blue moon.” There are also special cases, like the “super moon” we saw last month. These names came about by common usage, and are listed and explained at EarthSky. Link -via the Presurfer (Image credit: Flickr user Ava Verino)

Hello Kitty House Insulated Lunch Kit Posted: 05 Jul 2012 07:56 AM PDT Hello Kitty House Insulated Lunch Kit – $13.95 Attention Hello Kitty fans! School is right around the corner. Make sure you have the purr-fect lunch box with the Hello Kitty House Insulated Lunch Kit from the NeatoShop. This adorable insulated bag is PVC-free, easy to clean and can help keep your precious lunch hot or cold. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Hello Kitty items and fabulous Lunch Boxes! Link

Welcome Home Posted: 05 Jul 2012 07:30 AM PDT (YouTube link) The Welcome Home blog put together a compilation of recent military homecomings. The music is a bit overwhelming, but the families will make you smile. Don’t miss the two Captain Americas and the Marine who showed up at his sister’s graduation. And would you please stop cutting those onions in here? -via The Daily What

Oscar Pistorius Makes Olympic Team Posted: 05 Jul 2012 07:00 AM PDT South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius will compete in the individual 400 meters and the 4×400-meter relay at the London Olympics. He runs on specially-designed carbon-fiber prosthetics called Cheetahs. In 2008, Pistorius won a court battle to compete for an Olympic spot. However, he then failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. Some scientists are not convinced that Pistorius's current J-shaped blades don't give him an advantage. One argument is that because the blades are so much lighter than a human leg, Pistorius can turn over, or reposition, his prosthetic legs unnaturally fast. Since he was cleared to run against able-bodied athletes by the court in May 2008, Pistorius has made it his mission to compete in the Olympics and Paralympics in the same year. He failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but won three golds at the Paralympics in Beijing — to add to the gold and bronze he won at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. He has qualified for the London Paralympics in the 100, 200, 400 and 4×100 relay with his times at last year's world championships. According to his country's qualifying standards, he needed to run at least 45.30 seconds twice in international competition this year to make the Olympic team in the individual 400 meters. He met the qualifying mark last year and again in March, but was unable to run it a second time in 2012. Yet as the South Africa Olympic committee announced its track team for the Games on Wednesday, Pistorius was included. Pistorius will be the first amputee to compete in track at the Olympics, although amputees have competed in other sports. Link -via Metafilter (Image credit: Flickr user Elvar Freyr)

What Is It? game 232 Posted: 05 Jul 2012 06:30 AM PDT It’s once again time for our collaboration with the always amusing What Is It? Blog. Can you guess what the pictured item is? Or can you make up something interesting? Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many guesses as you’d like in separate comments. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. Two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will win T-shirt from the NeatoShop. Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don’t include a selection, you forfeit the prize, okay? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts? See all this week’s mystery objects at the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!

First Bite Posted: 05 Jul 2012 06:00 AM PDT (YouTube link) I don’t think this little boy ever had a hot pepper before this moment, which was fortunately caught on video. -via Buzzfeed

The Only Actor Who was in a Beatles Movie and an Elvis Movie Posted: 05 Jul 2012 05:08 AM PDT Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website. Eighty-two-year-old actor Victor Spinetti passed away on June 19th, reportedly from cancer. Perhaps not well-known to the general moving-going public, Vic was, nonetheless, both famous and popular with all us Beatles fans around the world. Victor is the only person to appear in both a Beatles movie and an Elvis Presley movie. The Elvis film was a very bad secret agent/spy romp from 1967 called Double Trouble. Like most of Elvis’ films, Double Trouble is very forgettable and is undistinguished in every way, but for the fact that it has Elvis in it. Also, like most Elvis films, the less said about it, the better. I met Vic as a Beatles fan convention about twenty years ago. He was a very friendly, soft-spoken, cordial man. We chatted for a few minutes. I remember I told him he was great in A Hard Day’s Night. He immediately said, “I’m also in Help! and Magical Mystery Tour.” I have met thousands of thousands of actors in my time, but I have never met any actor who was so concerned with me knowing his full credits. Besides his unique place in cinema history with the Beatles and Elvis, Victor is also the only actor to appear in three Beatles films. I guess because of his unique record, this is the reason he was so anxious to make me aware he was in all three of these films, not just A Hard Day’s Night. A gifted British stage actor, Victor was appearing in a musical in London called Oh! What a Lovely War one day when two long-haired young musicians entered his dressing room after a performance in 1963. They introduced themselves as John Lennon and George Harrison, members of the Beatles. Victor was aware of the band , who were already huge in England at the time (although they were still virtually unknown in America). They had come to ask him to be in their first film, which was to be called A Hard Day’s Night. “You’ve got to be in all our films,” said George. “Why?” he asked. “Because me mum fancies you and she won’t see the film unless you’re in it,” said George. Victor agreed to their request and was brilliant in his role as a nervous stage manager in the boys’ first film. As an interesting sidebar, John makes a gay joke at Vic’s expense in A Hard Day’s Night: As Victor walks away, with a pretty secretary following him, Paul says, “I’ll bet his wife doesn’t know about her.” John Replies, “I’ll bet he doesn’t have a wife. Look at that sweater.” Vic is wearing a frilly, effeminate-looking sweater. I have always wondered is John knew Vic was gay (he lived with a male partner for almost forty years) when he made that joke or was it just coincidence. At the time A Hard Day’s Night premiered in 1964, Vic was performing in Oh! What a Lovely War on Broadway. As he made his entrance to open the show, wild screaming and shrieking came from a group of young girls. These girls were Beatles fans and knew Vic from the movie. They wouldn’t stop yelling (one screamed, “He touched George!”) and the show was constantly interrupted. Victor called out to the girls, “Look, we’re here to do a play. But if you promise to be quiet, I promise I’ll give you a ten-minute seminar about the Beatles after the show.” This handled the problem, and after that night, Victor would give his daily ten-minute seminar on the Beatles after every show to delighted young female Beatles worshipers. In 1965, Vic appeared in the Beatles’ second film, Help! One of his favorite Beatles stories was of how he got the flu and was bedridden during the film’s production. Each of the four Beatles came to visit his bedroom, and he always thought the following anecdote was symbolic of their four individual personalities. Paul came to the door and asked if the flu was catching, and when Victor said “Yes,” Paul left and never came back. Then John came to the door and started doing his Nazi impression: “Jawohl, you vill stay in bed und recover for the zake of ze fatherland!” and strutted and goose-stepped and gave big Nazi salutes to make Vic laugh. Next, Ringo came in and picked up a hotel menu and started reading to him, “Once upon a time there were three little bears and Goldilocks…” Later, George walked in and plumped Vic’s pillows, explaining, “Everyone gets their pillows plumped when they’re sick, so I’m plumping your pillow.”   Another anecdote Victor loved telling was the day Warren Beatty came to visit him in his dressing room during the run of Oh! What a Lovely War. Warren came in and told him, “Victor, you’ve got tot help me. These girl fans outside are going crazy over me. They’re going to tear me apart!” Victor has a great laugh as he took Warren and walked him out among the frenzied girls who yelled, “It’s Victor Spinetti! It’s him! It’s Victor!” Victor chuckled at the recollection and said he could still see the shocked, amazed look on Warren Beatty’s face to his final days. He had no idea that the girls were going crazy at the theater because Spinetti was in a Beatles movie. One day, Victor asked George Harrison, “Why did you have me appear in those three films?” “Because you’ve got a lovely karma, Vic,” George replied. In another private moment with a Beatle, Vic once asked John Lennon, “What is the best lyric you’ve ever wrote?” “That’s easy, Vic,” answered John. “All you need is love.” Victor Spinetti -he appeared in dozens of distinguished stage plays and was in around 30 movies with such luminaries as Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Peter Sellers. An accomplished stage actor, he was also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in England. And although most actors would kill for such an eclectic, fascinating, accomplished career, nobody really cares about those credits or co-stars. In the minds and hearts of millions of Beatles fans (and in trivia books and quizzes), Victor Spinetti will always be “the guy who was in three Beatles films.” And… “the only guy who was in both a Beatles movie and an Elvis movie.” Victor Spinetti in Magical Mystery Tour (YouTube link)

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