Neatorama

---

• Diving into the World's Largest Pile of Leaves
• Bad Movies for Thanksgiving
• Gandalf Hat
• Fourth Doctor Pony Plush
• A Breaking Bad Thanksgiving
• Chinese Space Children Posters
• Which Bond Villain's Plan Made the Most Economic Sense?
• Real Life Up
• The Traditional Thanksgiving Eel
• Fiona Apple Cancels Tour to Stay with her Dog
• Detailed Piano Bag
• Ai Weiwei Big Think
• The Middle of Middle-Earth
• Snowman Poop Bubble Gum Balls in Toilet
• R2-D2 - A Canstruction
• Kids On Thanksgiving
• Sandwich Trolling
• I Have Your Heart
• The Perfect Guide To Holiday Etiquette
• Chocolate Express
• Headline of the Day
• Instructions for Immortality
• House MD
• Popping Corn One Kernel at a Time
• El Paso Del Tiempo Day After Day Fabric Calendar
• A Few Facts About Steven Spielberg's <i>Lincoln</i>
• Santa's Little Mishap
• New Employment Perk: Unlimited Paid Vacation
• Is Our Retro Obsession Ruining Everything?
• Epic Meal Time Thanksgiving

Diving into the World's Largest Pile of Leaves Posted: 21 Nov 2012 04:00 AM PST (Video Link) The gang at Bangakang can't verify the record, but at 17 feet high and weighing in at 10 tons, this is one freaking huge leaf pile. They grab every bag they can find in Logan, Utah, arrange the contents into a pile, then jump in from the roof of a two-story building. Skip to 1:17 to see the finished product. -via Daily of the Day

Bad Movies for Thanksgiving Posted: 21 Nov 2012 03:00 AM PST When you think of Thanksgiving films, you think of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and Alice's Restaurant, and to some degree, Miracle on 34th Street, and …what else? There are not very many classic movies centered around Thanksgiving, but if you dig a little, you'll find a few films that aren't exactly fit for prime time audiences. For example, there's Blood Freak, from 1972. This movie is about a man who turns into a murderous monster with the head of a turkey after he eats a chemically treated gobbler at the turkey farm where he works. Blood Freak has been a cult classic for Thanksgiving for decades now, with many Movie Host shows of the late 70′s onward making a point of screening it at this time of year. The biker who turns into the blood-crazed turkey monster is an Elvis look-alike which adds to the fun. So does the desk-bound, chain-smoking, script-reading narrator who sermonizes about the evils of drug abuse while the movie plays. There are more lesser-known Thanksgiving movies and shorts in a list at Balladeer's Blog. Link

Gandalf Hat Posted: 21 Nov 2012 02:00 AM PST Gandalf Hat - $24.95 Are you having trouble finding the perfect cold weather hat? Your quest is now over! Behold the the Gandalf Hat from the NeatoShop. This precious wide-brimmed felt hat will have you feeling as wise as an old wizard and as adventurous as a young hobbit. Just think of all the amazing things you could accomplish in this hat! Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more enchanting Winterwear! Link

Fourth Doctor Pony Plush Posted: 21 Nov 2012 02:00 AM PST It is said that when a girl begins dating, she anticipates what to expect from a boy by the example set by her father. Therefore my daughters will grow up assuming that men are knowledgeable about My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. I will, of course, do my best to encourage this notion. When my eldest daughter brings home a boy for the first time, I will, as you would expect, be cleaning my rifle. This is Texas; doing otherwise would be considered rude. But I will at the same time interrogate the lad on MLP minutia, hopefully causing him embarrassment as he is unable to answer simple questions (e.g. "Why are muffins linked to Derpy?") in front of my daughter. Thus I will intimidate him from doing anything ungentlemanly to her. Photo: LilMoon

A Breaking Bad Thanksgiving Posted: 21 Nov 2012 01:00 AM PST Warning- NSFW Strong Language. I don't think anyone could cook as perfect a Thanksgiving meal as these two meth dealers! While their costumes might not be the best, and their voices a little bit off, they nailed the mannerisms of their respective characters. They even have the classic corny yet cool montage. Which of your favorite factional characters would you like to make your Thanksgiving feast? Some of that Harry Potter food, like Cauldron Cakes or Chocolate frogs, would be... magical. -Via VVV

Chinese Space Children Posters Posted: 21 Nov 2012 12:00 AM PST Government artists knew what would grab attention for China's aerospace research program. Babies! Puppies and kittens! Adorable smiling faces! See more of these posters from the 1960s through the 1980s at Retronaut. Link -via Flavorwire

Which Bond Villain's Plan Made the Most Economic Sense? Posted: 20 Nov 2012 11:00 PM PST James Bond's foes concoct wild schemes for power and money, some less realistic than others. Which ones, from an economic point of view, were feasible?  Jean-Jacques Dethier, a development economist working for the World Bank, analyzed several criminal plans, including Alec Trevelyan's in GoldenEye: Plot: Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) wants to use an electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear weapon to bring London to its knees and destroy the Bank of England, but not before electronically stealing millions of pounds from the Bank’s systems. Plausibility: First of all, wouldn’t destroying London and the Bank of England render the pounds you’ve stolen largely worthless? “Not exactly worthless, but close,” says Dethier. Would you be able to convert it? “It’s actually very hard to convert huge amounts of something, which is a problem the Chinese now know well with all their American dollar holdings,” he says. So Trevelyan would have to spend all those pounds in the one country that'd take them: Britain. Whose economy he's just destroyed. Link -via Marginal Revolution | Image: United Artists

Real Life Up Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:00 PM PST It was only a matter of time before someone did it for real. Well, actually it has been done a few times but It still is cool every time I see it. The floating house from Pixar's Up. This was the first time, however, it was pulled off with a human passanger. Jonathan Trappe is a "professional" cluster-balloonist. Check out more images at Geakologie.

The Traditional Thanksgiving Eel Posted: 20 Nov 2012 09:00 PM PST Turkey? No, thanks. I want a traditional Thanksgiving--the way the Pilgrims did theirs. Two years ago, James Prosek wrote in The New York Times that the original Thanksgiving feast may have been upon freshwater eels: Indeed, eel was the dinner that Pilgrims were given on the very day after they made peace with Massasoit, the sachem, or leader, of the region. The following account is from “Mourt’s Relation,” mostly written by a Plymouth resident, Edward Winslow: “Squanto went at noon to fish for eels. At night he came home with as many as he could well lift in one hand, which our people were glad of. They were fat and sweet. He trod them out with his feet, and so caught them with his hands without any other instrument.” So who's up for some eel on Thursday? Link -via Dave Barry | Photo: US Geological Survey

Fiona Apple Cancels Tour to Stay with her Dog Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:00 PM PST Fiona Apple is postponing her South American concert tour to be with her dying dog, Janet. Her message explaining the decision was posted at Facebook. I have a dog Janet, and she’s been ill for almost two years now, as a tumor has been idling in her chest, growing ever so slowly. She’s almost 14 years old now.I got her when she was 4 months old. I was 21 then ,an adult offi cially – and she was my child. She is a pitbull, and was found in Echo Park, with a rope around her neck, and bites all over her ears and face. She was the one the dogfighters use to puff up the confidence of the contenders. She’s almost 14 and I’ve never seen her start a fight ,or bite, or even growl, so I can understand why they chose her for that awful role. She’s a pacifist. Janet has been the most consistent relationship of my adult life, and that is just a fact. But that's just the beginning -the rest will make you run for the tissue box. Read the whole story at Uproxx. Link

Detailed Piano Bag Posted: 20 Nov 2012 07:00 PM PST When we last caught up with Lubya and Max, they were making beautiful Doctor Who felt purses. They've been very productive since then and have produced felt bags that look just like violins, watering cans, gas cans and more. Their piano bags, which include keys and pedals, look especially stunning. Link -via Fashionably Geek

Ai Weiwei Big Think Posted: 20 Nov 2012 06:00 PM PST I recently watched the Ai Weiwei documentary, this is a man on a mission. Sometimes it is easy for people in the Western World to take our freedomes for granted, it's unfortunate really, because so many are still without basic human rights like the freedom of expression. He does not mince words. Free information and communication on Internet is forbidden in China. So you're facing so-called a great firewall to block all the major international Internet servers. And within China you have 100,000 Internet police just sitting there delete all blog or whatever the information they think we cannot appreciate about. As someone who writes on the internet for a living, I don't like the idea of Internet police at all. Big Think has been producing some interesting viral videos lately, including that one with Bill Nye. -Via Ulamonge

The Middle of Middle-Earth Posted: 20 Nov 2012 05:00 PM PST The people of New Zealand are so excited for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that they are renaming Wellington, the capital city, to The Middle of Middle-Earth for the week of the premier. I have to say I am equally as excited. I have never been into Cosplay, never dressed up, or been to a premier of anything, but I am considering it for this film. As a kid I loved The Lord of The Rings, but I lived and breathed The Hobbit. I don't think I have been this excited since I found out Evangeline Lilly (Kate from Lost, AKA my dream girl) was going to be in the movies. Which was today. I might just lose it. -Via Hyper Vocal

Snowman Poop Bubble Gum Balls in Toilet Posted: 20 Nov 2012 04:00 PM PST Snowman Poop Bubble Gum Balls in Toilet - $2.95 Do you know someone who has been really naughty this year? Forget the coal! Give them Snowman Poop Bubble Gum Balls in Toilet from the NeatoShop. This refreshingly honest treat reads, "You've been naughty this year. So here's the scoop! All you get for x-Mas is this Snowman Poop!"  Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Christmas items and deliciously funny Mints & Candies.  Link

R2-D2 - A Canstruction Posted: 20 Nov 2012 04:00 PM PST We have had R2-D2 engagement rings, as a dancing machine, as a Vespa, and even as a keg. Now meet R2-D2 as a canned foodstuff creation. He was on display at the Canstruction Exhibit at One Market in San Francisco, Ca. The Canstruction exhibit is part of a competition where people make things out of cans, essentially. Canstruction, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that holds annual design and build competitions to construct fantastic, giant sized, structures made entirely out of canned food. In each city after the structures are built and the winners declared the creations go on view to the general public as giant art exhibits. At the close of the competitions all of the food used in the structures is donated to the local food banks for distribution to community emergency feeding programs. Pretty creative cause if you ask me. -Via Buzz Patrol

Kids On Thanksgiving Posted: 20 Nov 2012 03:00 PM PST (YouTube link) Random kids in Brooklyn tell us what they are thankful for. I also did not know that Thanksgiving is a Jewish holiday. Link -via Breakfast Links

Sandwich Trolling Posted: 20 Nov 2012 02:00 PM PST Chefs can pull some mean pranks on their friends, this one even a novice chef could pull off. All you need is a piece of cardboard, some eggs, bread crumbs and flour, something to fry it in, some sandwich garnishes, and some hungry gullible friends. As the only one in my apartment that knows anything about cooking (like the difference between sauteing and pan searing) I am often asked to cook food for others. I will try this over Thanksgiving and report back to you guys, so keep an eye out. Click here for step-by-step photo instructions. Anyone have any other good cooking pranks? -Via Nerdalicious

I Have Your Heart Posted: 20 Nov 2012 01:30 PM PST I have always loved stop-motion films ever since I watched Wallace & Gromit as a kid. If you feel the same way then you very well might like this new collaborative effort by Molly Crabapple, Kim Boekbinder, and Jim Batt titled I Have Your Heart. Along with having great names, the trio collectively are an extremely creative bunch. Watch the film below. The project was funded by Kickstarter and you can check out a Q & A about the film here. -Via Laughing Squid (More Pictures)

The Perfect Guide To Holiday Etiquette Posted: 20 Nov 2012 01:00 PM PST (YouTube link) Billy is demonstrating different ways to behave at the dinner table. Billy needs therapy, or at least constant supervision. This video contains language that may be deemed a bit rude in the workplace. -via Buzzfeed

Chocolate Express Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:30 PM PST People all over the world - join hands. Start a chocolate train, a chocolate train. That's how that song goes right? I think I might prefer a chocolate train (photo L'Avenir) over a love train. Love can be tough, but chocolate... ...chocolate is always there for you. Chocolate doesn't let you down or leave you for that football player two times your size. Created by "master chocolatier" Andrew Farrugia of Malta, this is a choo-choo train made entirely of chocolate. It's 2,755 pounds of fine Belgian chocolate and is about 111 feet long. That's 6.5 million calories. Farrugia got the idea for the train last year, when visiting Belgian Chocolate Festival in Bruge. ”I had this idea for a while, and I said what do you think if we do this realization of a long chocolate train, you know, because a train you can make it as long as you like,” he told the press. Check out more photos via Oddity Central

Headline of the Day Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:00 PM PST The Daily Mail has a story about, well, it really doesn't matter what it's about and who can tell from the headline anyway, but don't you just love the way they string words together? Link -via Boing Boing

Instructions for Immortality Posted: 20 Nov 2012 11:30 AM PST Doktor A. News wants to congratulate you on gaining immortality. The directions are as follows. 1. Remove strap and leads from the storage drawer. 2. Place electrodes against forehead and tighten strap. 3. Attach bulldog clips to terminals in the jaw. 4. Set over-ride timer to desired duration. 5. Crank the main handle to build electrical charge. 6. Close the main switch to engage the electrical flow. 7. Increase the electrical voltage using dial. 8. Wait until your Asphyx manifests within the tube. 9. Shut off charge to electrodes using the main switch. 10. Transfer the Asphyx to a long term containment device. 11. Congratulations you have gained immortality. Well that was easy and not the least bit dangerous. This was created by toy maker Doktor A and took nearly 2 years to finish. His inspiration was from the 1972 film The Asphyx. The Asphyx appears in Greek myths as an angel of death like deity who appears at the moment of demise to seek release from it’s eternal pain by possessing the dying soul of its victim. This piece is directly drawing on the iteration of the Asphyx as seen in the 1972 British horror film starring Robert Stephens and Robert Powell and imagines what may have come to pass with the success of Sir Hugo Cunningham’s experiments in trapping an Asphyx, if the events of the film had not taken such a terrible turn for the worst. This guy is a toy maker, where were these toys when I was growing up? My parents messed up, I never had anything nearly this cool. -Via Buzz Patrol

House MD Posted: 20 Nov 2012 11:00 AM PST (YouTube link) If you never watched the erstwhile TV show House, you can catch up watching this compilation of clips from all 177 episodes. Well, you'd have to add some arguments about lupus to be really complete, but this will give you an idea of whether you should watch the DVDs. -via Metafilter

Popping Corn One Kernel at a Time Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:30 AM PST Design students Laurent Beirnaert, Pierre Bouvier, and Paul Tubiana created "Oncle Sam," a machine that pops popcorn one kernel at a time. It can even butter and salt each individual kernel! Not all that efficient, but as an art project it's fun to watch. The contraption is part of a French exhibit called "Low Tech Factory." See a video of it working at Laughing Squid. Link

El Paso Del Tiempo Day After Day Fabric Calendar Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:00 AM PST El Paso Del Tiempo Day After Day Fabric Calendar - $49.95 Are you looking for the perfect gift for your favorite geeky toddler. You need the El Paso Del Tiempo Day After Day Fabric Calendar from the NeatoShop. This beautiful interactive large mat calendar is wonderful for teaching the days of the week, months, year, and weather in Spanish. The calendar can be hung up or used on the floor.    The Day After Day Fabric Calendar is also available in English.  Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Educational & Science Toys.  Link

A Few Facts About Steven Spielberg's <i>Lincoln</i> Posted: 20 Nov 2012 10:00 AM PST Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website. Okay, I know many of you haven't seen the new Steven Spielberg film Lincoln yet. I saw it myself last week, and yes, it really is a great film. Steven Spielberg directing Lincoln -isn't that the very definition of a "must see" picture? Well, here are a handful of facts you may not have known about the movie Lincoln, with no spoilers. That's right, go ahead and read, because this list contains no spoilers. * Steven directed the entire three-and-a-half month production in a suit and tie. "I think I wanted to get into the role more than anything else," he said. "Because we were creating a part of history, and I didn't want to be the shlubby baseball-cap-wearing 21st century guy. I wanted to be like the cast." * Steven addressed everyone in the cast by their character name. At all times during the shoot, Daniel Day-Lewis was addressed as "Mr. President" by the director. Sally Field was addressed as either "Mrs. Lincoln" or "Molly." Every other cast member was addressed as his or her character. * On the daily call sheet, the part of Abraham Lincoln was listed as being played by "Abraham Lincoln." Daniel Day-Lewis' name was never mentioned. * Describing playing Lincoln, Daniel said, "I never, ever felt the depth of like for another human being that I never met, and that's, I think, probably the effect Lincoln had on most people that take the time to discover him. I wish he had stayed [with me] forever." * The original choice to play Abraham Lincoln was Daniel Day-Lewis, "8 or nine years ago." He turned the role down. Then Steven considered Liam Neeson. Neeson agreed and waited a few years for the script to be developed, but by the time it had come together, he turned the role down, thinking he was "too old." Then it came back to the original choice of Daniel Day-Lewis, who finally agreed. * Once Daniel decided on the voice he wanted to use while playing Lincoln, he sent an audiotape of it to Steven with a skull and crossbones on it so no one but Spielberg would hear it. * Abraham Lincoln's executive mansion was recreated to the letter for the film. Lincoln's office was duplicated, including the same wallpaper and books Lincoln used. The ticking of Lincoln's watch in the film is the sound of Lincoln's real watch, which was recorded in its home at Lincoln's presidential library. * Hal Holbrook, who plays Francis Preston Blair, won an Emmy award for playing Abraham Lincoln himself, in the 1974 miniseries Lincoln. He also played Lincoln in the North and South miniseries and on The Ed Sullivan Show. * Sally Field desperately wanted the role of Mary Todd Lincoln, but Steven thought she was too old (she is ten years older than Day-Lewis and twenty years older than Mrs. Lincoln at the time the film took place). It wasn't until Daniel Day-Lewis personally agreed to screen test with her (he flew out for the test from his home in Ireland as a favor) that Steven saw the film and agreed to give her the role.

Santa's Little Mishap Posted: 20 Nov 2012 09:30 AM PST (YouTube link) It was a lovely idea. A crowd of children were waiting for Father Christmas to arrive at the Broad Street Mall in Reading, England. Santa Claus, played by Steve Chessell of the 11th Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, lowered himself into the shopping center's atrium by rope -but was stopped by his beard getting caught in the rope's rappelling mechanism! Link -via Fark

New Employment Perk: Unlimited Paid Vacation Posted: 20 Nov 2012 09:00 AM PST Only 1% of employers in the US offer this perk, but the number is growing. In some firms, employees can take as much paid time off as they feel they need: By showing that they trust their workers, these employers say, they are cultivating a culture of even deeper trust. Though the practice is still experimental, these companies say they've seen little abuse of the system so far. [...] Dov Seidman, chief executive officer of advisory-services firm LRN, acknowledges that since the company implemented unlimited vacation three years ago, some workers have "made the wrong decision" and missed meetings to take time off. Still, such mistakes are rare, he says, and "no one's ever gone for four weeks." Mr. Seidman says his roughly 300 employees have become more thoughtful and considerate about taking time off as a result of the policy. Many of them now feel compelled to check in with their peers before scheduling vacations, he says. This is a brilliant idea--one that will surely be adopted by farsighted, ingenious corporate visionaries. Of course, I'm thinking of Neatorama CEO Alex Santoso, a business giant of our age who has the entrepreneurial intuition to seize this opportunity immediately. Link -via Dave Barry | Photo: Kamoteus

Is Our Retro Obsession Ruining Everything? Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:30 AM PST Rock critic and music memorabilia collector Simon Reynolds is the author of the new book Retromania. In it, he asserts that obsessing over the past is holding back creativity in music. Reynolds: I wonder why we’re so obsessed with the past, particularly in music, because that’s my thing. A lot of the other retro phenomena I find vaguely amusing, but the music is a genuine worry because I like to be surprised. The first instinct for a new band starting out now—and I’m talking about very musical, intelligent people—is to go to an existing template and then tinker with it. They have fun trying to reproduce it as exact as they can or adapt it to their purpose in some way. But there are not so many musicians trying to come up with something out of nowhere, which is quite hard to do. In the past, though, people have tried to do that. That was the general modernist ethos for a long period in music, particularly in the ’60s, but also in the post-punk era I grew up in, and in the electronic techno scene of the ’90s. You might use an idea from the past, but you’d probably mutilate it in some way or drastically change it. Or you’d use it as a springboard to go somewhere new. Now the ethos is much more like reproducing antiques. It’s about getting that drum sound or that guitar texture. It’s literally a backward movement. My concern is a sense of everything being seemingly vaguely familiar. It’s a bit depressing. How true is it that modern music, and pop culture in general, depends too much on the past? There are plenty of examples in an interview with Reynolds at Collector's Weekly. Link

Epic Meal Time Thanksgiving Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST (YouTube link) The Epic Meal Time guys put together a Thanksgiving feast featuring a pig stuffed with a stuffed turkey (by Chef Zadi), brown goo, and a fast-food lasagna, among other dishes. And then they served it at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen. Warning: NSFW language. -via reddit

You are subscribed to email updates from Neatorama To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610