Neatorama |
- Celebrating The Life & Birthday of H. P. Lovecraft
- A Silent Hill Version Of SpongeBob SquarePants
- Water Light Graffiti
- Xenomorph Tyrannosaurus Made Out Of LEGO
- A Musical Performance On The New York Subway
- Back to School Boot Camp
- 10 Great Artists’ Famous Calling Cards
- An Honest Trailer for The Hunger Games
- Would You Buy A House Built on Top of a Shopping Mall?
- Vending Machine That Dispenses Dishes
- <i>My Little Pony</i> Rifle
- H.R. Giger's Darth Vader
- Windows Update
- Blown Glass Spacecreft by Rik Allen
- What's Wrong with This Picture?
- The Best and Worst Countries to be a Returning Athlete
- Kitten vs. TWO Scary Things
- The Latest Videos from Mars
- The Strange 1956 Tale of a "Virgin Birth"
- Cup-stacking Otter
- Famous Album Covers Recreated with Socks
- Woody Woodpecker's Movie Cameos
- 10 Incredible Sea Forts
| Celebrating The Life & Birthday of H. P. Lovecraft Posted: 20 Aug 2012 05:00 AM PDT Today marks H.P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft’s 122nd birthday. In honor of the author’s amazing impact on modern pop culture, lets take a little look at the life that led to some of the most famous horror icons of the last century. Creating A Mind For Madness
Even without his father around, young Howard had a lot of family support, as he lived with his mother, his two aunts and his grandfather in a charming home in Providence, Rhode Island. The boy was pretty much a genius and was able to recite poems at only three and write his own poetry at six. His grandfather encouraged him by reading him classic stories, but he also stirred up the boy’s imagination with Gothic horror stories. While that’s normally not such a bad thing, and little Howard loved the stories, it’s not generally a good idea to keep telling scary stories to children who suffer from night terrors –like Lovecraft did from a very young age. He had one recurring nightmare featuring faceless demons that he called “night gaunts.” Later on these creatures would become the subject of one of his poems and many believe his childhood nightmares provided inspiration for his later tales of terror. As if his nightmares weren’t bad enough, the boy was also frequently ill. In fact, he was so sickly that he couldn’t enter school until he was eight and even then, he was withdrawn again only a year later. Fortunately, Howard was highly interested in academia and spent his time out of school reading text books, particularly those focused on chemistry and astronomy –his two favorite subjects. While he finally was well enough to attend high school, his grandfather’s death paired with difficulty in mathematics (which he needed to master to become an astronomer or chemist) caused him to suffer from a nervous breakdown shortly before graduation. As a result, Lovecraft dropped out and never actually received his diploma. Getting His Foot In The DoorWhile Lovecraft wrote a few short stories as a child, he mostly wrote poetry after high school. He soon became a hermit and only talked to his mother. Everything changed when he sent a letter to the pulp magazine The Argosy, complaining about one of their most popular writers. His letter and the resulting debate appeared in the magazine’s letters to the editor column and caught the attention of the President of the United Amateur Press Association, who invited Lovecraft to join the group. The organization inspired Lovecraft to start writing more poems, essays and short stories. He finally started getting his work published and gained a large network of correspondents in the process, including the writer of Psycho and the author of the Conan the Barbarian series. This was particularly good timing for him to gain some new friends, as his mother was institutionalized during the same period. She died only two years later due to complications related to a gall bladder surgery. Only a few weeks later, Lovecraft met his future wife, Sonia Greene, at an amateur journalist convention in Boston. The couple married three years later and moved to New York, unfortunately, they did very poorly financially and Sonia eventually moved to Cleveland to find work. Howard stayed behind and grew to hate New York deeply. Only a few years later, the couple agreed to get a divorce and Lovecraft returned to Rhode Island to live with his aunts. Back In ProvidenceThe last ten years of his life, those he spent back in Providence, were Lovecraft’s most prolific. Aside from writing his own stories, he also worked as an editor for other authors and did quite a bit of ghost writing, including crafting tales for Harry Houdini. Of course, he kept his best work, and all of his stories about Arkham, for himself. While his writing went really well during this time, his life wasn’t. Despite how much he was putting out, he still was growing poorer and he was forced to move to a smaller home with his last living aunt. One of his good friends committed suicide, and then, in 1936, Howard was diagnosed with cancer of the small intestine. He was in constant pain until his death in March of the next year. All in all, Lovecraft lived a short, lonely and generally depressing life. To make matters worse, his writing remained relatively unknown during his lifetime, despite his many correspondences with other writers of the time. Interestingly, since his contact with others was primarily through letters, Lovecraft is now the second most prolific letter-writer of all time, falling only behind Voltaire in number of correspondences sent. Before his death, the author is believed to have written over 30,000 letters, primarily to fiction writers working in his genre of “weird fiction.” His letters have since been released by five different publishing houses, including one autobiography comprised solely of the letters the author sent throughout his lifetime, carefully arranged to chronologically explain his life story. Finally Reaching A Wider AudienceLovecraft’s primary contact during his later years was with fellow weird fiction writers, who eventually became known as the “Lovecraft Circle,” since they all tended to incorporate elements of Howard’s stories with their own writings. These writers continued to expand on the Cthulhu mythology even after Lovecraft passed away and, eventually, helped his stories become more popular. These days, authors such as Stephen King, Alan Moore, Mike Mignola and Neil Gaiman consider Lovecraft to be one of their primary writing influences. He also inspired many famous artists and directors, including Clive Barker, H.R. Giger, John Carpenter, Guillermo Del Toro and Stewart Gordon. Metal bands, including Metallica, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, have recorded tributes to Lovecraft. The mental institution in Batman comics has been named in his honor –Arkham Asylum. There’s even a spider species named after one of Lovecraft’s creations, the Pimoa cthulhu. While he still may not be as famous as Anne Rice or Dean Koontz, H.P. Lovecraft has had an immeasurable impact on popular culture and as a result, even people who have never heard of the author have still heard of Cthulhu, Arkham and the Necronomicon –not bad for an impoverished hermit. Sources: Wikipedia #1, #2, #3, #4 and The Weekly Standard  |
| A Silent Hill Version Of SpongeBob SquarePants Posted: 20 Aug 2012 04:00 AM PDT This is what SpongeBob SquarePants would look like if he was born and raised in the madness of Silent Hill, instead of the calm waters of Bikini Bottom. He's terrifying to behold, but I'm pretty sure he didn't get his job flipping burgers because of his good looks and customer service skills. If anybody knows who created this horrifying SpongeBob please let me know, I would love to give them credit for giving me nightmares... Link --via GeekTyrant |
| Posted: 20 Aug 2012 03:00 AM PDT This water activated LED light installation was created by Antonin Fourneau, and it looks like it would be fun to mess around with on a hot summer day! The LED are "illuminated by the contact of water. You can use a paintbrush, a water atomizer, your fingers or anything damp to sketch a brightness message or just to draw." --via Cheezburger |
| Xenomorph Tyrannosaurus Made Out Of LEGO Posted: 20 Aug 2012 02:00 AM PDT This is the dreaded LegoXenoTyranno, but you can call him Alien Rex. A crafty builder named Retinence drew inspiration from a concept design by nebezial and created this impressive looking LEGO sculpture, complete with all sorts of pokey things and sharp bits. It's the scariest critter I've ever seen rendered in LEGO, and kinda looks like a badass version of Grimlock from Transformers. Link --via Obvious Winner |
| A Musical Performance On The New York Subway Posted: 20 Aug 2012 01:00 AM PDT I'm pretty sure this New York subway performance by the Stay Human band was well rehearsed, mainly because of the perfect camera angles and posed players, but that doesn't make it any less fun to watch! Dig on some soulful subway grooves, played by some dapper fellows who always travel in style and like to get a few licks in on their way to the gig. --via AnimalNY |
| Posted: 19 Aug 2012 10:00 PM PDT Sit up straight and pay attention: do not eat paste, and do not take your pants off in front of the other students. Your parents will not be there. Some teachers are jerks. Some will be strange shapes. Cut teachers some slack. -via The Daily What |
| 10 Great Artists’ Famous Calling Cards Posted: 19 Aug 2012 09:00 PM PDT Artists, filmakers, and authors often get into the habit of leaving a "calling card" -some quirky element that they've grown fond of- in many of their works. If you learn which ones are which, and you'll be able to identify their works even when their name is not attached. Or you might just enjoy being able to spot one. For example: Chris Van Allsburg's books always had Fritz in them somewhere.
Ten such artists and their calling cards are explained at Flavorwire. Link See also:Woody Woodpecker's Movie Cameos |
| An Honest Trailer for The Hunger Games Posted: 19 Aug 2012 08:00 PM PDT |
| Would You Buy A House Built on Top of a Shopping Mall? Posted: 19 Aug 2012 06:00 PM PDT Space is one thing you don't find easily in a city like Zhuzhou, Hunan province, China. But there is space on the rooftop of the Jiutian International Square shapping mall, and the owners have places four villas with lawns up there. The developers say these are not intended for sale, but they are not the only rooftop houses in the city -and other buildings have people living in such structures. Link -via Geekosystem |
| Vending Machine That Dispenses Dishes Posted: 19 Aug 2012 04:00 PM PDT |
| Posted: 19 Aug 2012 03:00 PM PDT I once promised that if someone ever made a Fluttershy Mosin-Nagant rifle, I would post it at Neatorama. This is not it, but it's awfully close: a Fluttershy SKS. The SKS was the Soviet Union's semi-automatic replacement for the bolt action Mosin-Nagant. It appears to lack the standard folding bayonet, but it does have Fluttershy's cutie mark which will probably have the same effect on an enemy. |
| Posted: 19 Aug 2012 02:00 PM PDT What would it be like if H.R. Giger had worked on Star Wars instead of Alien? Imperial forces would have been even more frightening, as Thomas Spanos's Darth Vader helmet illustrates. Link -via Super Punch |
| Posted: 19 Aug 2012 01:30 PM PDT
I don't know where this is, but the lettering on the sign look Cyrillic to me. Maybe you can translate. There's no way this window job could have been easier (or better) than just replacing the originals where they were! -via Arbroath Update: Neatoramanaut Philip 2 got us a translation of the Russian sign: "State Committee for Construction." You couldn't ask for a better punch line! |
| Blown Glass Spacecreft by Rik Allen Posted: 19 Aug 2012 01:00 PM PDT Artist Rik Allen makes these beautiful sculptural spaceships and rockets from metal and blown glass. There are even a couple of robotic creatures in his gallery! They pretty much embody the term "retro-futuristic." Link -via Boing Boing |
| What's Wrong with This Picture? Posted: 19 Aug 2012 12:00 PM PDT Greg Allen found this old coloring and activity book that dates back to the first movie in 1979. Can you spot all of the things wrong with this picture? You can find the answers after the jump 1. Actor Jimmy Doohan lost the middle finger of his right hand during World War II, but this image shows him with it intact. |
| The Best and Worst Countries to be a Returning Athlete Posted: 19 Aug 2012 10:00 AM PDT Now that the Games are over and the athletes have gone home, what was waiting for them? In some nations, Olympic athletes are heroes, win or lose, while other nations could care less, at least officially. Either way, Mom will be happy to see you. Especially in Trinidad and Tobago.
Meanwhile, one nation made both the best list and the worst list. You can probably guess which before you read the article at Foreign Policy. Link -via Digg (Image credit: Flickr user Tab59) |
| Posted: 19 Aug 2012 09:30 AM PDT Once again, Ignoramusky adds the perfect music to a kitten video to make it something more than the sum of its parts. As far as I can tell, the name of the kitten is Филиус (Filius). See more pictures of him. -via Metafilter Previously:More videos by Ignoramusky |
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| The Strange 1956 Tale of a "Virgin Birth" Posted: 19 Aug 2012 07:30 AM PDT
But modern DNA tests were not around in 1956, and no DNA samples from the women exist now. However, subsequence advances in science throw doubt on Emmimarie's story. Read the explanation at the Telegraph. Link -via Not Exactly Rocket Science |
| Posted: 19 Aug 2012 07:00 AM PDT Nellie the sea otter lives at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington. The otters are given toys for entertainment and enrichment, and here you see Nellie stacking them back in order, after which she hands them back to her keeper. Before you know it, our factory robots will be replaced with otters, who will work for clams. That is, until they tire of the novelty and just want to float in the water, holding hands with a friend. -via reddit |
| Famous Album Covers Recreated with Socks Posted: 19 Aug 2012 06:30 AM PDT Have you ever considered socks as an art medium? The anonymous author of a Tumblr blog called Famous album covers recreated with my socks has, and apparently has quite a selection of socks to use! There are two pages of album covers now, and we hope there will be more to come. Link -via Wil Wheaton |
| Woody Woodpecker's Movie Cameos Posted: 19 Aug 2012 06:00 AM PDT The clip is from 1960 film The Time Machine, produced and directed by George Pal, based on the H.G. Wells novel. Yes, you've seen this movie probably more than a few times. But did you ever see Woody Woodpecker in it? He's there, for an interesting reason.
See a list of these cameos at Futility Closet, with hints to help you find him. Link -via Nag on the Lake |
| Posted: 19 Aug 2012 05:00 AM PDT What you see here is the Red Sands sea fort six miles off the coast of England. It was used during World War II to guard against u-boats and aircraft attack. As you can probably guess, the was an unpopular post, and was only manned for a few months. Other sea forts look more comfortable, even spectacular, in a list of ten at The World Geography. Link-Thanks, Bosko! (Image credit: Wikipedia user Russss) |
Given how dark many of Lovecraft’s stories are, it shouldn’t be all too surprising that his childhood was fairly dark as well. It wasn’t that the young boy was abused or anything, it’s just that his father was institutionalized when he was only three and died when he was eight. While Lovecraft maintained throughout his life that his father suffered from a nervous breakdown caused by working too hard, many researchers believe he actually suffered from syphilis.
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The Mars Curiosity rover had its eyes wide open as it landed on the red planet. Meaning, the forward-facing camera was taking color images as it landed. In a couple of videos released by NASA, you can see the heat shield falling away from the rover, the heat shield slamming into the planet, and the dust of Mars stirring up as the rover itself touched down. See the videos, and read an astronomer's account of why they are so amazing, at Bad Astronomy. 
In 1955, geneticist Helen Spurway discovered the phenomenon known as parthenogenisis: how some species procreate without a male. Spurway was studying guppies, but wanted to know if parthenogenisis, or "virgin birth," happened in humans. A call went out through the British magazine Sunday Pictoral to find possible cases. They found Emmimarie Jones, who had an 11-year-old daughter named Monica with no known father. Tests available at the time showed that Monica had many genetic traits eerily identical to her mother's, except for a skin transplant, which both mother and daughter eventually rejected.
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