Neatorama |
- The Song Elvis Presley Recorded in the Dark
- Owl Snack Bowl
- A TARDIS Themed Delorean
- A Cityscape Made Out Of Staples
- Spot The Skull In These Optical Illusion Artworks
- 400 Chairs Assembled Into A Sine Wave
- How to Build a Giger Counter
- Psychedelic Critter Statues By Troy Emery
- We're NASA and We Know It
- Is Divorce Contagious?
- Kit Kat Cake Topped with M&Ms
- How To Prepare For a Job Interview
- Pirate's Grog Barrel Water Bottle
- Car Mechanics Wear Kilts to Stay Cool
- The Blister Pack Avenger
- What Futurama Characters Would Look Like In Real Life
- Should Mentally Disabled People Hold Political Offices?
- Ammo Box Speaker
- Why Should You Get On the Internet?
- Teenagers Try to Assault Kung Fu Expert
- Direct Permalinks for Google Drive
- Coloso Wants To Share His Power With You
- Giraffe Terrifies Visitor to Safari Park
- Hello Kitty White Face Shoulder Bag
- A Map of American State Stereotypes
- Donkey Kong Was Only The Beginning...
- Camel + Llama = Cama
- Are You So Rich You Need Gold Shoe Laces?
- The Most Useful Dog Trick Ever
- 2012 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest Winners
| The Song Elvis Presley Recorded in the Dark Posted:
It was the spring of 1968, and Elvis Presley was in the middle of filming another in the seemingly endless run of mediocre movies that had tarnished his career, his self-confidence, his fan base, and his morale. Live a Little, Love a Little was typical grade-Z Elvis film fare. Nothing remarkable, special, or particularly notable about it. Probably the only good points of filming for Elvis were the relieved knowledge that it would be one of the last films he'd have to churn out and the happy company of his co-star, Celeste Yarnall, the actress he romanced in the film. Elvis and Celeste became, according to her account, "instantaneous friends." Like almost every one of his attractiv female co-stars, Elvis and Celeste had a very close relationship. However, Celeste, unlike most of Elvis' women, will not reveal any intimate details about their relationship. "I am very private about our relationship and I want to keep it that way," she says, "But we just had a lot of love for each other and it was a very special time."
In the dressing room, Elvis told Celeste the backstory of his own struggle -that he felt a tremendous brotherhood with the black community because he grew up poor and he knew what it was like to live in poverty. He was also proud that many blacks embraced him as one of their own. "He sobbed in my arms like a baby," says Celeste. "He was just devastated and desperately would have liked to attend the funeral. We choked down our lunch and sang a little a cappella tribute of 'Amazing Grace.'" "If I Can Dream" w Binder found Elvis and played it for him in his dressing room. "Let me hear it again," said Elvis. The song was played 7 or 8 times and Elvis finally said, "Okay, I'll do it." On June 23rd, Elvis recorded "If I Can Dream" in several incredibly passionate takes. To Binder, his performance was so staggering as to seem almost like a religious experience. Out on the floor with a hand mike, Elvis fell to his knees. For a moment, he felt like he was back in church, singing the Gospel songs of his youth.
Binder sat motionless, afraid to move as Elvis lost himself in the song. Once again, he fell to his knees. But this time, with the lights out, Elvis assumed a fetal position, writhing around on the cement floor. Then, after three more takes, all with the lights out, Elvis got up and walked into the control room. Elvis sat in rapt attention as he asked Binder to play the song back to him. After listening to the song fifteen times, Elvis was finally satisfied and gave his O.K. Elvis was so affected by the song, he said, "I'll never sing another song I don't believe in. I'm never going to make another movie I don't believe in." Sadly, Elvis' hope for the future was not to be. At the time, Elvis was extremely depressed about both his film and recording career. "If I Can Dream" was shown at the close of Elvis' Singer Special (later to be known as the '68 comebcak special) that December. It was the first time the song was heard by the general public. Later released as a single, it peaked on Billboard's Hot 100 at number 12 and sold over a million copies. It may well be the only gold record in music history that was recorded in the dark.  |
| Posted:
Are you looking for an owlfully cute treat dish? You need the very delightful Owl Snack Bowl from the NeatoShop. The container is shaped like a bird's nest and features an adorable owl hiding inside. This little bowl is a real hoot! Be sure to swoop over to the NeatoShop for more great Dishware and fantastic Owl items! |
| Posted: This is the CARDIS- a TARDIS styled Delorean that may be the end result of Doc Brown and The Doctor meeting up somewhere in time and space. The old "bigger on the inside" TARDIS factor would really make a difference when applied to the somewhat small interior of the Delorean, especially if the time travelling duo want to bring their companions along for the ride! Link --via Geek Tyrant |
| A Cityscape Made Out Of Staples Posted: This is one cityscape where loose sheets of paper won't be blowing down the street. It's a cityscape called Ephemicropolis, and it was created by British artist Peter Root, who used over 100,000 staples in its creation. The entire piece measures approximately 235 X 117 inches, with the "tallest" building measuring in at a whopping 4 and 3/4 inches high. Link --via DesignTAXI |
| Spot The Skull In These Optical Illusion Artworks Posted: These black and white illustrations by Istvan Orosz are masterpieces in their own right, but the fact that there is a skull hidden in each piece makes them an optical delight! If you're having trouble finding the skull try looking at a smaller sized version of each piece and the grinning face of death should be easier to spot. |
| 400 Chairs Assembled Into A Sine Wave Posted: Welcome to Atlanta's Freedom Park, won't you pull up a chair and stay for a while? This awesome feat of furniture engineering, 400 wooden chairs arranged into a sine wave formation, is called (surprise, surprise) SEAT, and it was created by Ju Lee and Brian Brush. I wouldn't wanna be anywhere near this installation when they remove one of the chairs and it all falls down! Link --via Beautiful/Decay |
| Posted: After watching the film Prometheus and inspired by a Tweet from Dr. Phil Plait, Steve D set about making a Giger counter. That is, of course, a radiation detector in the style of Alien designer H.R. Giger. See how he did it, with plenty of pictures, at MadArtLab. Link -via Bad Astronomy |
| Psychedelic Critter Statues By Troy Emery Posted: These wild and wooly critter statues were created by a crafty Australian artist named Troy Emery. Troy starts with a taxidermy foam body form and adds craft materials to the body, like brightly colored yarn, pompoms and plastic beads. What a funky menagerie of fantastically far out creatures! Link --via Beautiful/Decay |
| Posted: The comedy group Satire melds the awesomeness of NASA's Curiosity mission and the catchy tune of LMFAO's "I'm Sexy and I Know It." Read more about it at the Washington Post. Link -via Metafilter |
| Posted:
M. Christian Green of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University suggests that divorce is actually "contagious" in her article There But for the Grace: The Ethics of Bystanders to Divorce [pdf]. Vicki Larson summarizes the issue over at Huffington Post:
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| Posted:
Link -via Tasteologie |
| How To Prepare For a Job Interview Posted: Got a job interview? Are you anxious? Here's a little mind trick that you can do to prepare yourself, courtesy of Lumberjack Films and Star Wars. Geeks Are Sexy has the clip: Link [YouTube] |
| Pirate's Grog Barrel Water Bottle Posted:
Being a pirate is thirsty work. Make sure you stay properly hydrated with the Pirate's Grog Barrel Water Bottle from the NeatoShop. This fantastic water bottle is perfect for taking on wonderful adventures in search of buried treasure. The Pirate's Grog Barrel Water Bottle is proudly handcrafted by local artisans in the USA. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more terrific Pirate items! |
| Car Mechanics Wear Kilts to Stay Cool Posted: At O'Brien Auto Performance in Tulsa, Oklahoma, kilt-wearing mechanics will fix your car while Celtic music plays in the background. Just be careful where you look:
Especially if you wear a kilt "regimental style." Link -via Dave Barry | Image: News 6 |
| Posted: Here's the superhero we could all use from time to time! Our pal Dan Piraro of Bizarro Comic brings us (drum roll, please) The Blister Pack Avenger! |
| What Futurama Characters Would Look Like In Real Life Posted: This series of realistic renditions by Jared Krichevsky shows what those crazy aliens from Futurama might look like in real life, and they're downright scary! Jared even managed to make mild mannered Kif look rather repulsive, and I used to think Nibbler looked cute and cuddly...now I'm not so sure... |
| Should Mentally Disabled People Hold Political Offices? Posted:
Didier's party argues that mentally disabled people are part of the community, and should have the chance to be represented in political offices. Critics, however, disagreed:
RT has the story: Link What do you think, Neatoramanauts? Should people with mental disability be excluded from holding political office? POLL: Should Mentally Disabled People Hold Political Offices?
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| Posted: Dustin White made the ultimate office accessory: speakers built inside old .50 caliber ammunition boxes. You can find his instructions at the link and make your own. Link -via Everyday, No Days Off |
| Why Should You Get On the Internet? Posted: This seems like a pretty low-key promotion for students, until you realize it was produced 17 years ago! From the YouTube page:
But then again, these kids grew up to BE the internet generation. A 10-year-old in 1995 would be 20 years old in 2005. Maybe we've just found out who is responsible for LOLcats. -via Dangerous Minds |
| Teenagers Try to Assault Kung Fu Expert Posted:
Bystanders called 911 during the fight and police arrested the two boys. Link -via Althouse | Photo (unrelated) via richard_north |
| Direct Permalinks for Google Drive Posted:
While uploading years and 100+ GB worth of family photos and videos, I realized Google Drive is lacking in one area: sharing. Sharing any file is allowed, but is really unusual in that you cannot give someone a link directly to a file. Instead, you can only share your file via Google's file viewer. For an example of the file viewer in action, see this Google Drive link. This means you also cannot embed any of your stored images directly onto a web page. In response to these limitations, I developed as a public service a solution called GD URL that allows you to create a direct, permanent link to all your files stored with Google Drive. If you ever might need this service, please give it a try at gdURL.com. I hope you find it helpful! |
| Coloso Wants To Share His Power With You Posted: This is Coloso, and he's a massive electrical tower shaped like a robot that was created by art collective Doma for the Tecnopolis 2012 exhibition in Argentina. He looks friendly enough, but if you try to give him a hug you'll get a shocking surprise! Link --via Laughing Squid |
| Giraffe Terrifies Visitor to Safari Park Posted: Next on When Animals Attack: an ordinary mom thinks that she's going to have an ordinary day. But then she wandered into a safari park and met...The Tongue. -via Super Punch |
| Hello Kitty White Face Shoulder Bag Posted:
Attention Hello Kitty fans! Are you still looking for that purr-fect back to school accessory! Behold the fabulous Hello Kitty White Face Shoulder Bag from the NeatoShop. This beautiful bag features amazing embroidered details and a colorful lined interior. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Back To School items. |
| A Map of American State Stereotypes Posted: This interactive map of the U.S. was constructed using Google's autocomplete feature. For each state, the search form was filled in with “Why is [insert state] so “ and the autocomplete results were noted, analysed, sorted, and assigned. At the site, mouseover a state to see what autocomplete terms came up most often. The accompanying post also shows some of the stereotypes generated compared with actual data maps. Link -via Metafilter, where commenters contributed autocompletes for cities, Canadian provinces, and countries around the world. |
| Donkey Kong Was Only The Beginning... Posted: Digital artist Julien Bazinet has taken the classic arcade game Donkey Kong and recast it with some of pop culture's most beloved characters, creating simulated screens for an out of this world platformer. Villains like Bane, the Xenomorph Queen and Cookie Monster?! await the hero at the top of the screen in these pixel-tastic homages to retro gaming. Man, I wish somebody would make these into levels in a real Donkey Kong mod! |
| Posted: It sounds like the beginning of a joke: what do you get when you cross a camel with a llama? You get a cama, thanks to the efforts of the Camel Reproduction Center in Dubai. Camas are said to be friendlier than a camel and hardier than a llama. The cama pictured here is named Rama and was born in 1998. Three others have been produced since then, and as a camel and a llama have the same number of chromosomes, it is believed that camas may be able to reproduce. The cama is just one of several animals profiled in the Cracked article The 5 Coolest Pets Humanity Has Bred into Existence. Link (Image credit: Taylor Llamas) |
| Are You So Rich You Need Gold Shoe Laces? Posted: So here's something that exists....shoe laces made completely with gold or silver. Each pair takes 120 hours of sweat shop labor to complete through an intensively straining process. The gold laces go for a measley $19,000. Of course, if you're too pathetically impoverished to afford that, you can always get the silver ones for only $3,000, but at that point, why bother -everyone will still know you're just a peasant. Link Via Geekologie |
| The Most Useful Dog Trick Ever Posted: Psshh... Lassie might save your life, but where is she when you need some refreshment? That's what I thought. |
| 2012 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest Winners Posted:
Winners in subcategories such as crime and children's literature and other dishonorable mentions, can be found at the contest site. Link -via The Guardian |
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist 
In early April, in the middle of their filming one day, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Later, Elvis and Celeste watched the funeral of Dr. King together in his dressing room trailer during lunch. Elvis took it hard. One of his favorite recitations was King's "I Have a Dream" speech. King was shot in Memphis, a stone's throw from Elvis' home, Graceland.
as a tribute song to Martin Luther King, Jr. written by Walter Earl Brown, notable for its direct quotations from Dr. King. Now that Elvis had wrapped shooting for Live a Little, Love a Little, he was recording songs for his upcoming Singer Television Special, to be broadcast on television that December. When the song was first presented to Elvis, the TV special's producer, Steve Binder, was worried and thought it would surely be rejected. He wanted to include it, but the show was ostensibly to be a Christmas special, and "If I Can Dream" was not a Christmas song.
Not everyone was prepared for such a visceral performance: "The string players sat there with their mouths open. They had never seen anything like this." But the more astonishing performance came when the producers sent everyone home and Elvis re-recorded the vocals -in the dark.
Owl Snack Bowl
You've heard the statistics before: half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. But why is the rate so high?
That's the question that's being put to the test in the city of Ghent, Belgium. Didier Peleman, a 41-year old man with mental disability, has sparked a controversy whether a mentally disabled person should hold political office:
Don't attack people. Your victims may not be as weak as they appear, as two teenagers in Vancouver, Washington discovered when they tried to grope Priscilla Dang:
If you've ever researched Internet-based data storage, you're probably familiar with Dropbox, Amazon Cloud Drive, and other similar services. Google recently threw their hat into the ring by merging Google Docs into their new service, 
English Department at San Jose State University sponsors the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for the opening sentence to "the worst of all possible novels." The competition is named for author | You are subscribed to email updates from Neatorama To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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