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2013/06/06

Neatorama

Neatorama

Mojito Rice Krispie Treats

Posted: 06 Jun 2013 04:00 AM PDT

mojito

The blogger behind Mallow & Co. acquired a supply of lime-flavored marshmallows and used much of it to make Rice Krispie teats flavored like key lime pie. She needed a use for her remaining supply and realized she could mix up mojitos. These aren't alcoholic, but with vanilla flavored almond bark and mint extract, they should nicely complement a cold mojito.

Link -via Tasteologie

Elephant Armor for a Horse

Posted: 06 Jun 2013 03:00 AM PDT

armor

The Mughal Empire and Mewar clashed in 1576 at the Battle of Haldighati. Maharana Pratap, the ruler of Mewar, rode into battle on his famous warhorse, Chetak. Pratrap equipped his horse with armor that made him resemble an elephant in the hope of confusing enemy war elephants.

Link -via The Oddment Emporium

(Photo: unknown)

Chewbacca Cookies

Posted: 06 Jun 2013 02:00 AM PDT

Chewbacca

There's nothing as delicious as Chewie chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. Susan of Diamonds for Dessert made these Wookiee cookies using white chocolate for the accents around Chewbacca's mouth and bandoleer.

Link -via That's Nerdalicious!

Bookworm Gorillas

Posted: 06 Jun 2013 01:00 AM PDT


Photo: Lynnette Fortin

It's study time! The cute photo of the studious mama and baby gorillas was submitted by Lynnette Fortin to the National Geographic's 2013 Traveler Photo Contest (deadline to enter is June 30, 2013): Link - Thanks Marilyn!

Keep Calm I'm The Doctor Seatbelt Belt

Posted: 06 Jun 2013 12:00 AM PDT

Keep Calm I'm The Doctor Seatbelt Belt

Attention Doctor Who fans! Are you looking for a fun and functional way to express your love of all things Doctor Who? You need the Keep Calm I'm The Doctor Seatbelt Belt from the NeatoShop. This fantastic belt is made of tough nylon webbing and features an authentic seatbelt clasp as the buckle. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Doctor Who items. 

Link

Movie Pictionary

Posted: 06 Jun 2013 12:00 AM PDT


Show Answer


Show Answer


Show Answer

Good at Pictionary? See if you can guess the titles of the movies in this nifty little game over at Next Movie: Link - Thanks Andie!

Fat is a Great Source for Stem Cell

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 11:00 PM PDT

Hooray for fat! Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, discovered that human fat is an excellent source for stem cells that can potentially develop into cures for many diseases:

Stem cells were discovered in human fat in 2001, and called adipose stem cells (ASTs). The cells described by the UCLA scientists, led by Gregorio Chazenbalk, in the journal PLOS One, are different.

Unlike ASTs, these cells, dubbed MUSE by Mari Dezawa, leader of the Japanese team that first discovered them in bone marrow, appear to be pluripotent, more like embryonic stem cells rather than so-called “adult” stem cells. That means they can develop into any kind of tissue in the body.

MUSE stands for Multilineage-differentiating Stress-Enduring cells, and their ability endure stress is how Chazenbalk found them in fat, by accident.

“I was doing ASC isolation,” he said in an NBCNews.com interview, late at night when a critical machine stopped working. Because it was late, Chazenbalk couldn’t borrow a machine from another lab. So his cells received no nutrients, hardly any oxygen, and most died. “Then, instead of throwing them all away, I decided to see if some survived.”

Some did, and eventually formed what looked like clusters of cells typical of embryonic stem cells. These turned out to be MUSE cells.

Take that, skinny people! Link

How Empathy Works

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 10:00 PM PDT

empathy

Perfect! This is how you connect with your wife or girlfriend (or both). Endless Origami teaches us to listen attentively, affirm her words and try to share the experience. This is when real communication and relationship building begin.

Link -via 22 Words

Infinite Onion Ring

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 09:00 PM PDT

ring

Redditor IUsedToBeGood has an onion ring in the shape of the symbol for infinity. Does this mean that you could keep eating it forever?

Link -via Geekosystem

Pizza and Spaghetti Flavored Slushies

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 08:00 PM PDT

spaghetti

Yes! Although I hadn't heard of this drink before today, now I must have it! According to internet rumor, Couche-Tard, a convenience store chain in Quebec, offers slushies in pizza and spaghetti flavors or--hold on to your seats--lets you combine the two drink flavors into one.

Link -via Foodbeast

Batmobile Tractor

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 07:00 PM PDT

tractor

Valtra, a tractor manufacturer, makes a tractor that looks just like the tumbler version of the Batmobile. Why? Because someone has to bring justice to the mean fields of Gotham.

Link -via Obvious Winner

Archicebus achilles: World's Oldest Primate

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 06:00 PM PDT

Humanity, meet your new grandpa:

A tiny, insect-eating animal with slender limbs, a long tail and weighing in at no more than 30 grams, has become the earliest known primate in the fossil record. Archicebus achilles lived on a humid, tropical lake shore 55m years ago in what is now China and is the ancestor of all modern tarsiers, monkeys, apes and humans.

Scientists found the fossil, whose name translates as "ancient monkey", in the Hubei province of China about a decade ago but it hasn't received detailed analysis until now.

About 7cm long, Archicebus lived in the trees and its small, pointed teeth are evidence that its diet consisted of insects. The fossil's large eye sockets indicate a creature with good vision and, according to scientists, it probably hunted during daytime.

Alok Jha of The Guardian has more details: Link

Cheap Sunglasses [no. 995 - @tnylgn]

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 05:00 PM PDT

sunglasses cartoon

Putting the Fun Back into Functional Civic Infrastructure

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 04:00 PM PDT


Photo: Florestan Korp

Forget graffiti! Dutch designer Thor ter Kulve is putting the "fun" back into functional civic infrastructure with ... furniture!

Joseph Flaherty of Wired wrote:

[Thor ter Kulve's] projects include a swing that can be surreptitiously clamped to a light pole, a wacky sprinkler designed to be mounted on a fire hydrant, and a cozy fireplace crafted to sit on top of a public trash can.

Ter Kulve’s mission is to transform dull locations into stimulating destinations with small tweaks to their design. In a time of economic hardship he is trying to maximize the value of public space, even if it means occasionally running afoul of zoning boards or police officers.

“In the Netherlands it is forbidden to attach anything to public trees, not even a birdhouse, let alone a swing,” he says. “But this is also an issue I like to address — why do we use this common field in this way? And aren’t the rules preventing joyfulness to happen?”

Take a look at more of ter Kulve's art projects:

Hollywood Star Charts

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 03:00 PM PDT

You ain't never seen Hollywood stars like this. UK art studio Dorothy mapped hundreds of films and movie stars into these two wonderful constellation maps, The Golden Age and The Modern Day Hollywood Star charts.

See if your favorite movies and actors are listed:

The [Golden Age] chart is based on the night sky over Los Angeles on October 6th 1927 - the release date of Al Jolson's 'The Jazz Singer', the first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue which heralded a new era for cinema and the decline of the silent film.

The 62 films featured include those chosen for preservation in the US National Film Registry due to their cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance; Academy Award winners; and a few personal favourites. Films include King Kong, The Wizard of Oz, It's a Wonderful Life, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca and Rebel without a Cause.

The [Modern Day] chart is based on the night sky over New York on June 16th 1960 - the date of the first showing of Hitchcock's 'Psycho' at the DeMille Theater. With its new approach to storytelling, characterisation and violence it is seen as a key movie in the start of the post-classical era of Hollywood.

The 108 films featured include those chosen for preservation in the US National Film Registry due to their cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance; Academy Award winners; and a few personal favourites. Films include Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, The Exorcist, The Godfather, Chinatown, Star Wars, Pulp Fiction and Avatar.

View more over at Dorothy's official website: Link - via Cool Hunting

Pirate vs. Ninja Corn Skewers

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 02:00 PM PDT

Pirate vs. Ninja Corn Skewers

Are you ready to attack the summer BBQ season? Arm yourself with the Pirate vs. Ninja Corn Skewers from the NeatoShop. This dangerously fun set includes four corn holders with stainless steel pins. They come shaped as both pirate and ninja swords. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Kitchen Stuff. 

Link

How to Make A USB Bat Signal

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 02:00 PM PDT

Granted, it might be a little small to attract Batman (unless he's already in the same room), but this homemade, USB-powered Bat Signal is still pretty darn impressive. You can get all the instructions you need to make your own over on DadCanDo.com, which says it's actually a great project for those who are still beginners in soldering. 

Link

Brainteaser: Two Clocks

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 01:00 PM PDT

v(Image credit: Flickr user leoplus)

Mr. Tidball purchased two clocks from Gordo's Repair Shop and set them at the same time. He soon discovered, however, that one clock was two minutes slow per hour and the other one was one minute fast per hour. The next time Tidball looked, one clock was exactly an hour ahead of the other. How long had it been since he last set the clocks?

Continue reading to find out the answer.

Show Answer

___________________

This brainteaser was reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader.

Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!

The Daffy Duck Story

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 12:00 PM PDT

vNeatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.

Daffy Duck is my all-time favorite cartoon character -a slam dunk (Homer Simpson notwithstanding). Steven Spielberg also named Daffy Duck as his favorite cartoon character, so I'm in pretty august company!

Dafffy Duck made his cartoon debut in Porky's Duck Hunt in 1937. Little more than a minor supporting player, this genus of Daffy is not really that funny and is different from the Daffy Duck that was soon to make the entire world laugh.

Legendary animator Fred "Tex" Avery is credited with creating Daffy. Avery, a brilliant legend in the animation world, came up with Daffy's screwball character, which was soon to rival the "normal" everyman characters: Mickey Mouse and Popeye, in popularity in the 1940s on into the early '60s. 

Daffy Duck was to be animation's first completely uninhibited cartoon character. Film critic Steve Schneider once called Daffy "a kind of unleashed id."

v

According to Bob Clampett (Daffy's original animator): "At that time, audiences weren't accustomed to seeing a cartoon character do these things. And so, when it hit theaters, it was an explosion. People would leave the theaters talking about this Daffy Duck."

vDaffy's trademark "Woo Hoo! Woo Hoo! Woo Hoo!" was derived from a now little-known character named Hugh Herbert. In movies of the 1930s, Herbert's trademark line was his "Hoo-hoo-hoo!" Interestingly, Curly Howard of the Three Stooges adapted his famous "Woo-Woo" line from Herbert, too.

The classic Daffy Duck was voiced by, of course, the animation voice icon of icons, Mel Blanc. Blanc did Daffy's voice from 1937 until his death in 1989, a record 52 years for one person voicing the same cartoon character.

Although he has morphed in temperament and personality, Daffy's physical appearance has remained essentially the same: black feathers and a white ring around the neck. However, over the years, his squat original appearance has changed into a taller, lankier frame.

Daffy's trademark slobbery lisp was not nearly as pronounced in the early years. In Daffy Duck and the Egghead (1938), the first of the official Daffy Duck cartoons, Daffy is completely without a lisp, except when he sings the Merrie Melodies theme song "The Merrie Go Round Broke Down," in which the lisp is barely perceptible. According to legend, the lisp was taken from Leon Schlesinger, who headed Warner Brother Studios animation department, and who had a lisp in real life.



The first great Daffy Duck cartoon is probably You Ought to Be in Pictures (1940). An eerie precursor to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988), this incredible mixture of animation and real life footage was groundbreaking for its time. It is still fascinating to view, all these years later. (As a sidebar, Daffy did have a bit part 48 years later in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? trying to perform a piano duet with Donald Duck.)

vBut Daffy's legendary status in brilliant (and timeless) comedy shorts really began during the World War II years. By this time, Daffy is the Daffy Duck we are all familiar with: out of control, wild, madly uninhibited, unhinged. These cartoon's include 1943's Daffy the Commando (where he hits Hitler over the head), 1944's Plane Daffy (where he is romanced by a gorgeous Nazi lady spy), and 1945's Draftee Daffy (where he frantically tries to avoid the man from the draft board).  

Daffy was often teamed with other Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies characters, most notably Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny. With the Porky teamings, Daffy was usually the clown, with Porky his foil and straight man. Many of these toons are hilarious, including 1946's Daffy Doodles (Daffy is a psycho duck who can't stop himself from painting mustaches), 1948's Daffy Duck Slept Here (Porky needs a night's sleep and Daffy keeps him up), and 1948's Riff Raffy Daffy (Daffy is a homeless duck trying to find shelter and Porky is a cop hounding him).

BY the 1950s, Daffy's simple, crazy, unrestrained character had taken a sharp turn. The animation and direction of the world-famous mallard was given to Chuck Jones. Jones, another wonderful animation legend and talent, was mainly responsible for turning Daffy into a greedy, shallow, narcissistic, hostile, angry duck. Although unattractive personality traits, with Daffy, they somehow became extremely funny and oddly likable.

(YouTube link)

Often teamed with Bugs Bunny, Warner brothers biggest animation star, Daffy became Bugs' perfect foil and patsy. The combination of Bigs' trademark easygoingness and Daffy's shameless self-promotion works together perfectly. Daffy's biggest catchphrase, "You're despicable," (delivered to Bugs) comes from these wonderful 1951-1957 Bugs and Daffy years. The two teamed up in many legendary toons, including three of their best: 1951's Rabbit  Fire, 1952's Rabbit Seasoning, and 1953's Duck! Rabbit! Duck! In all three, Elmer Fudd hunts Bugs and Daffy, who scramble and schemes for survival.

In 1957's Show Biz Bugs, a desperate, applause-hungry Daffy is continually upstaged by a mildly bemused Bugs. Daffy and Bugs share the stage and Daffy wildly tries to gain the audiences approval. Daffy's manic tap dance is greeted with dead silence (the famed chirping crickets in the background) while Bugs' tepid dance provokes wild applause.

(YouTube link)

Although they did several "classics" together, 1953's Duck Amuck is probably their high point. It is also probably the greatest single Daffy Duck cartoon ever, period. Daffy spend the entire cartoon complaining to an unseen animator, who assumes a godlike persona and keep animating the hapless duck into embarrassing and painful situations. At the end of the toon, the animator is revealed to be Bugs Bunny himself. Steve Schneider calls Duck Amuck "One of the few unarguable masterpieces of American animation." In 1999, the short was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

v

1953's Duck Dodgers of the 24th and a Half Century is another of the dozens of unforgettably hilarious Daffy toons, as Daffy meets Marvin the Martian in a Buck Rogers sci-fi takeoff. Another gem is Stupor Duck which features Daffy as a Superman-like hero named Stupor Duck. He also, of course, plays his mild-mannered alter ego Cluck Trent.

Like trying to write a single article on "The Best Beatles Songs," listing out the greatest Daffy Duck cartoons becomes a task much too huge to be contained in one writing. During the Golden Age of animation (roughly the 1930s to the early '60s) the comical mallard appeared in 133 Warner Brothers vMerrie Melodies/Looney Tunes cartoons, second only to Bigs Bunny (166 appearances) and Porky Pig (159). TV Guide named Daffy #14 on its list of Top 50 Cartoon Characters.

All of the wonderful, timeless daffy Duck cartoons are pretty much available on video or DVD, or even easier (and cheaper) on YouTube or Videosurf or many other free websites.

The Pokemon Color Wheel

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 11:00 AM PDT

Gotta catch them all? Huh, good luck even naming them all, even when they are convienantly organized by color in this great image by Redditor _Avalon.

I admit that while I'm a sucker for Pikachu's character design, he's pretty much the only Pokemon I know and thus, one of the only ones I even recognize on this massive chart.

Link

Wearing Your Wicket On Your Shoulders

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 10:00 AM PDT

If you agree that the Ewoks are by far the best characters in the original Star Wars trilogy, then you know just how awesome this fantastic beanie for older todlers and small-headed adults is. Of course, if you don't like Ewoks then you're a terrible person and you very well might like Jar Jar, so there's no hope for you anyway.

Link

Edible Anuses: For Those Who Literally Kiss Butt

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 09:00 AM PDT

Looking for a truly disgusting way to tell someone they are a butt-kisser? How about sending them a dozen chocolate anus candies, which have apparently been a real thing since 2004? Of course, if you want to make the message more permenant and less delicious, maybe you could instead go with the $400, limited-edition, solid-silver anus -now that's classy.

Link Via Laughing Squid

Something Tells Me Captain America Isn't Concerned With Moisturizer

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 08:00 AM PDT

If you really want to fight aging like Captain America, don't worry yourself with moisturizer. Instead, try to get some of that awesome super soldier serum the government uses on Steve Rogers.

Oddly, Marvel and Kiehls thought Captain America would be a perfect spokesman for their new line of "heavy lifting" anti-aging products for men. Maybe it's just me, but I see Tony Stark as a much better spokesperson as he actually is concerned with his looks and does age at a normal pace.

Link Via The Mary Sue

Cats Don't Understand Treadmills

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 07:00 AM PDT

(Video Links)

Many dogs will happily walk on a treadmill, but cats don't understand why humans are so obsessed with exercise and they certainly don't get the point of a moving walkway that goes to nowhere. This little guy thinks he might be able to figure out the weird, giant toy, but after sliding off a few times, he seems to give up.

Via Laughing Squid

Nutter Butter Camping Cookies

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 06:00 AM PDT

cookies

If a bear doesn't eat these cute campers, I will! Party Pinching made these cookies out of Nutter Butters, graham crackers, vanilla wafers, frosting, pretzel sticks, gumdrops and frosting.

How do you make the blankets? By melting a fruit roll up over the sleeping campers. I should try sleeping that way sometime.

Link -via Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons

These Domo-kun Cookies Are Monstrously Adorable

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 05:00 AM PDT

If DeviantArt user cakecrumbs offered me one of his Domo cookies, I wouldn't know whether to cuddle it or bite its head off because they are just so darn cute. 

Link
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