Neatorama

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• Hello by ka-92
• Super Nintendo Parenting
• Introducing the NeatoShop Pinterest
• Patrick Strattner's Absurd Inventions
• Sons of Cyborg
• Sugar and Spice Socks
• Hi! You've won a Nobel!
• The Last Volkswagen Van Will Soon Roll off the Assembly Line
• Police Car Wrapped in Plastic: Art or Vandalism or Public Disobedience?
• Florida Man Tries to Pay Water Bill with Cocaine
• Hogwarts Envelope Cookies Have Acceptance Letters Inside
• Dr. Seuss Dinosaur Toys
• Conduct Us
• Don't Mess with Samurai Monkey
• A Fan Art Tribute to Jim Henson
• 5 Surprising Things That Have Cow Parts in Them
• Skull and Flower Tote Bag
• Naked and Scared Haunted House Challenge
• Tis But a Scratch
• The Ultimate In King of the Hill Tattoos
• World Gurning Champ Retains Title
• Minion, You Need This Clap Trap Pillow!
• Happy National Punctuation Day!
• The Settlers of Catan Cookbook
• What Does the Fox Say: the Animated Story
• Finally Your Baby Can Look More Like Your Pug
• Hand-Drawn Atlas of the United States
• Stopped Up
• Prepare Your Kitty For Breaking Bad's Finale
• The Difference Between Sperm and Sperm Whales

Hello by ka-92 Posted: 25 Sep 2013 04:00 AM PDT What? You're not going to wave back? That's rude! Go on, wave hello back to that ... thing there drawn by deviantARTist ka-92. Then sloowly but surely back away. Back far, far away ...

Super Nintendo Parenting Posted: 25 Sep 2013 03:00 AM PDT Other parents seem to have it so easy. They know just how to maneuver their children. But Lunarbaboon's character keeps falling down and none of the cheat codes that he found on the internet work. Link

Introducing the NeatoShop Pinterest Posted: 25 Sep 2013 02:00 AM PDT Hey Neatonauts! Can't get enough of the great NeatoShop products we feature on the blog? Have a hard time keeping up with the new items added to the shop almost every day? Then start following the new NeatoShop Pinterest account, which is loaded not only with all kinds of NeatoShop goodies, but also with great pins about geek stuff, movies, animal pictures, Halloween, Christmas, Hello Kitty and more. You'll be amazed by all the fun stuff you'll find there. Oh, and did I mention we'll be running more Pinterest contests soon? You'll find out about them as soon as they happen if you follow the NeatoShop Pinterest.

Patrick Strattner's Absurd Inventions Posted: 25 Sep 2013 01:00 AM PDT Automatic upper and lower full mouth toothbrush Battery operated back hair 2 in 1 shaving and grooming system Three wheeled foot propelled bristle sweeper Inspired by the SkyMall in-flight airline catalog, Los Angeles-based artist Patrick Strattner made products designed to make basic life functions a little easier. He calls his series of inventions "Prototypes." You can find more at the link. They're supposed to be absurdities, but that back hair grooming system could be a useful manscaping tool. And it looks like it's something that you could wear while doing work at the office or chores at home. Link -via Junkculture

Sons of Cyborg Posted: 25 Sep 2013 12:00 AM PDT Sons of Cyborg by Baznet No Pity. No Pain. No Fear. No Future. The wearer of this shirt will be back ... to let freedom ride! Baznet mashes up our favorite 80s movie with a modern-day series to come up with this fantastic Sons of Cyborg T-shirt. Check out Baznet's Tumblr for more neat T-shirt designs, then visit his NeatoShop page. Your purchase helps support indie artists as well as this blog! Trollslayer The Last of Smurfs Hello Toxic Methopoly View more designs by Baznet | More Funny T-shirts Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop, earn generous royalties, and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Sugar and Spice Socks Posted: 24 Sep 2013 11:00 PM PDT Sugar and Spice Socks What are big girls made of? Sugar and Spice and everything nice. That's what big girls are made of.  The Sugar and Spice tube socks feature the text "Sugar" on one sock and "Spice" on the other. These striped socks are sure to make a sweet treat for your sweet.    Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Footwear.  Link

Hi! You've won a Nobel! Posted: 24 Sep 2013 11:00 PM PDT Imagine getting a call saying you've won a Nobel Prize! It could happen -if you are among the distinguished scientists, economists, doctors, authors, and peacemakers who were nominated. And some of those people are waiting for the call. For others, it's a complete surprise. The Nobel Committees hava an exact schedule for selecting the winners, starting the second week of October, with a different discipline announced each day. The Academy vote is at 9:30 AM (Swedish time), the call happens at 11:15, and the public announcement comes at noon (the schedules vary, but are always planned). If the winner cannot be notified by phone, the announcement goes on anyway, and the press will let the winner know. Professor Steffan Normark, permanent secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, makes the calls for chemistry, physics, and economics. …Normark has a strategy for getting his phone calls past secretaries. "We tell them this is a very important call. A. Very. Important. Call." He enunciates each word carefully before moving on to the clincher. "From Stockholm." So far, he has always been put through. Normark says the best calls are a total surprise for the winner. And sometimes it's hard to track a winner down. But the Nobel Prize is special, even compared to honors that carry more money with them. Read more about how it's done at Intelligent Life. Link  -via Digg (Image credit: Noma bar)

The Last Volkswagen Van Will Soon Roll off the Assembly Line Posted: 24 Sep 2013 10:00 PM PDT (Photo: Chris Sampson) The Volkswagen Type 2, which has been in production since 1949, has reached the end of the road. The last factory that manufactures them is shutting down that product line: The last Volkswagen "hippie bus" is due to roll off an an assembly line in Brazil on Dec. 31. It seems the van that became known as the transportation of choice for counter-culture folks in the '60s can't be made with the air bags and other safety equipment that "the man" wants it to have. So Volkswagen is ending production in the last place where the van's still made; a factory near Sao Paulo. Volkswagen Brazil is turning the final few into special editions. They'll come in sort of robin's egg blue with white trim. Inside: "Special vinyl upholstery" with those colors and blue curtains on the windows. Link -via American Digest

Police Car Wrapped in Plastic: Art or Vandalism or Public Disobedience? Posted: 24 Sep 2013 09:00 PM PDT > Photo: Die Kunstagentin/Facebook - via Nerdcore Madrid-based Spanish street artist SpY went to Cologne, Germany, and decided to help the local police in keeping their car in mint condition. But is it art? What happens if there's a police emergency and the cop came out to see their car all wrapped up in plastic film? And how come the police drive such a nice BMW? Photo via Ekosystem Actually SpY has done something like this before, wrapping a police car with police tape, so we're not sure whether this whole thing is real or staged. View more street art posts on Neatorama.

Florida Man Tries to Pay Water Bill with Cocaine Posted: 24 Sep 2013 08:00 PM PDT Today's tale of adventure for Florida Man, the world's worst superhero, takes us to the town of Deltona. It was there that our intrepid friend tried to pay his water bill with an envelope of crack cocaine: Employees at the Deltona Water office on Enterprise Road were evacuated this morning, Sept. 23, after a customer handed a cashier an envelope with a white powder in it. At 9:56 a.m., the water-department employees called the Volusia County Sheriff's Office to check out the suspicious substance. [...] The powder was tested. "Interestingly enough, it was crack cocaine," Haught said. The Sheriff's Office will continue to investigate. Link -via Ian Chant (Photo: Fuzz Crime Scene Scarf now on sale at the NeatoShop!)

Hogwarts Envelope Cookies Have Acceptance Letters Inside Posted: 24 Sep 2013 07:00 PM PDT Don't eat that envelope! Tina of Sugar Bean Bakers put something precious inside. She baked them for a friend who will feel very excited, then disappointed when she realizes that they're not real. So it's cute, but also a vicious prank. Link -via That's Nerdalicious!

Dr. Seuss Dinosaur Toys Posted: 24 Sep 2013 06:00 PM PDT Whether you're a plain Sneetchiraptor or a Star-Bellied Sneetchiraptor, you'll love these dinosaur toys! Sillof, a brilliant custom toymaker whose work we've featured extensively, made them for a dinosaur-themed Best Western hotel in Colorado. You can view more photos of them at the link. Link -via Super Punch P.S. If you like Sillof's work, be sure to check out our interview with him.

Conduct Us Posted: 24 Sep 2013 05:00 PM PDT (YouTube link) Improv Everywhere gave passersby a chance to conduct a symphony orchestra. For our latest mission, we put a Carnegie Hall orchestra in the middle of New York City and placed an empty podium in front of the musicians with a sign that read, “Conduct Us.” Random New Yorkers who accepted the challenge were given the opportunity to conduct this world-class orchestra. The orchestra responded to the conductors, altering their tempo and performance accordingly. This project was a collaboration with Carnegie Hall and Ensemble ACJW. A good time was had by all. For more on this caper, see the blog post about it. Link  -via Tastefully Offensive

Don't Mess with Samurai Monkey Posted: 24 Sep 2013 04:00 PM PDT Actually, samurai monkey is part of Los Angeles-based photographer Hiroshi Watanabe's latest art series, titled Suo Sarumawashi, which is centered around the ancient Japanese artform of Sarumawashi or Monkey Dancing. Sarumawashi, as explained by the Kopeikin Gallery which is hosting Watanabe's exhibition, is a 1,000-year-old Japanese tradition that started as a religious ritual to protect the horses of warriors. The acrobatic stunts, dances, and comedic skits performed by trained macaque monkeys later developed into festival and imperial court entertainment, alongside Noh and Kabuki, as well as street performance. Despite its popularity, sarumawashi almost became extinct in the 1970s. The urbanization of Japan and the rise of automobiles on Japan's crowded streets had sidelined sarumawashi, until a group of Japanese artists founded an organization dedicated to preserving the artform. Today, the group regularly tours Japan to perform. In this interview with Lenscratch, Watanabe explained how he was fascinated by the range of emotions expressed by animals during a recent visit to the zoo, which reminded him of his childhood experience watching the street performance of sarumawashi in Japan. He wrote to the Suo Sarumawashi Association and asked them for permission to photograph the monkeys: For the camera, the monkeys stood up straight and struck the poses for the plays over and over. But after a while, they started to fall back to their own inner-self, revealing their true personalities, but it only lasted until the trainers said something, and the monkeys immediately corrected the posture. There's always one trainer to one monkey. In other words, they work as a couple and trainers do not handle more than one monkey at any given time. They spend many hours practicing and appear on the stage together every day. This one to one relationship last until the day when the monkey retires (monkeys retire after several years of performing and afterwards live and are taken care of among other monkeys till natural death). They rely on each other and their bondage must be strong. Take a look at more of Watanabe's fascinating photographs of Japan's dancing monkeys over at Kopeikin Gallery. (All photoraphs: Hiroshi Watanabe)

A Fan Art Tribute to Jim Henson Posted: 24 Sep 2013 03:00 PM PDT Muppet master Jim Henson would have turned 77 years old today, if he hadn't died in 1990. To remember the life of the man who gave us so much entertainment, mental_floss has posted a collection of fan art featuring Henson himself. Of course, most of the artworks also feature Henson's creations, including his alter ego Kermit the frog. Shown here is How Jim Did It, by DeviantART member PHUZface1, with a theory of how "The Rainbow Connection" scene was accomplished. See the rest in a list compiled by Jill harness at mental_floss. Link

5 Surprising Things That Have Cow Parts in Them Posted: 24 Sep 2013 02:00 PM PDT Image: Dudarev Mikhail/Shutterstock So, you're a vegan and you're mad that you can't drink Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte. Well, maybe you want to skip this post because your day ain't going to get much better. You see, almost *everything* in the world contains something made from animal parts and by-products. Don't believe us? Here are 5 things in the world that you wouldn't believe are made from or contain animal by-products or use them in the manufacturing process: 1. Car Tires Yes, tires are made of rubber, which are plant products but the wheel on the bus goes round and round with a little help from stearic acid. Stearic acid is a fatty acid with many industrial applications - and when we say many, we mean a bajillion. This chemical compound is used as a surfactant and softening agent. It is found in soaps, cosmetics, detergents, lubricants, candles, food, and even fireworks. Car tires manufacturers use stearic acid as an additive to help "cure" the rubber in the tires and make them strong enough to hold their shape while under steady friction yet flexible enough to grip the road. Oh, and that "stearic" in stearic acid is derived from the Greek word "stear" which means tallow, a rendered form of beef or mutton fat. 2. Drywall Unless you live in a brick or mud house, then chances are, your wall is made of drywall or sheetrock. These are gypsum plaster sheets used to make interior walls and ceilings. Then, unless you live in an unfinished garage, chances are your walls are painted. Well, both drywall and paint contain animal by-products. Drywall is made by creating a slurry of gypsum with additives such as starch, paper pulp and fatty acids like stearic acid (ta-da!) and oleic acid (also made from animal fat) as emulsifier and thickener. 3. Paint Many brands of paint (even latex-based paint) contain a binder called casein, a protein found in cow milk. Never heard of casein? You may not know it, but you are familiar with casein: in its coagulated form, casein is called cheese. 4. Sugar Good ol' white sugar isn't white to begin with. Rather, large sugar manufacturers use a filter made from bone char - basically charred ash of animal bones (mostly from cattle) - to decolorize sugar cane to the desired white form. Well, how about if I just use brown sugar, you say. Turns out most brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added as brown colorant. 5. Asphalt Yes, that black stuff used to pave roads and parking lots contain glycerin, a release agent that prevents it from sticking to the containers, as well as other animal by-product based additives to help the ease of mixing and paving as well as control rutting and cracking.

Skull and Flower Tote Bag Posted: 24 Sep 2013 01:00 PM PDT   Skull & Flower Tote Bag Halloween is right around the corner. Are you looking for a spooktacular bag to help you celebrate your favorite season? Accessorize with the Skull and Flower Tote Bag from the NeatoShop. The Skull & Flower Tote Bag is an extra large tote that bag features a retro skull and flower design. The inside of the bag has a all over black and white daisy print with a magnetic top closure. The bag is perfect for toting books, potions, irreplaceable worldly and otherwordly possessions, and of course lots and lots of candy.   Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Bags & Totes.  Link

Naked and Scared Haunted House Challenge Posted: 24 Sep 2013 01:00 PM PDT ShocktoberFest is a spooky theme park operating in October (and parts of September and November) in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania. In addition to the various haunted house tours, they have hayrides, a midway, and a place to host parties. This year, they are offering a special haunted tour where you can go through naked! Inspired by the hit show “Naked and Afraid” on the Discovery channel, Shocktoberfest has created The Naked and Scared Challenge to test your fears and phobias on a whole new level. For the first time ever you can now experience the Unknown Haunted House totally naked! See if you have Gymnophobia- the fear of being nude. Naked and Scared tickets are limited. Online ticket purchase recommended.   The naked tours will happen after all the other visitors have left, and it's only open to adults. *Please note there is an additional cleaning charge if we scare the p*ss out of you! Link -via Boing Boing

Tis But a Scratch Posted: 24 Sep 2013 12:00 PM PDT Tis But a Scratch by Naolito It's just a flesh wound! I've had worse. 'Tis but a scratch! Even those with the biggest daddy issues will approve of this clever T-shirt by Naolito. Visit Naolito's official website and Facebook page, then visit his NeatoShop page for the neatest shirts you'll see today! Your purchase helps support indie artists as well as this blog, so buy something, mmkay? Three More Wishes Mushroom Eater Coffee Time Pokeggball View more designs by Naolito | More Funny T-shirts Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop, earn generous royalties, and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

The Ultimate In King of the Hill Tattoos Posted: 24 Sep 2013 11:00 AM PDT To be fair, I say that when it's the only King of the Hill tattoo I've ever seen, but it's hard to imagine one that could top this Bobby Hill piece featuring one of the greatest lines from the show. Unfortunately, I have no information on who has this great ink or who did the tattoo, but I still couldn't help but share it with you guys -unlike my purse. Link Via Fashionably Geek

World Gurning Champ Retains Title Posted: 24 Sep 2013 10:00 AM PDT A gurn is a funny distorted face, and gurning is what we often refer to as "making faces." In England there is a tradition of gurning competitions, the most famous being the contest at the Egremont Crab Fair in Cumbria. That competition, held this past Saturday, is considered the World Championship of gurning. Tommy Mattinson held off all comers to win the title and retain his crown as the world's best gurner for the 15th straight year. Mr Mattinson, from Aspatria, also holds the Guinness World Record for gurning, and has beaten his father's ten-time record as world champion. In 2008, he gurned in front of the Queen during a visit to Cumbria. He described his expression as "a cross between an alien and a wolf man". "That said, this year in particular I really, really tried hard," he said. "I put in a lot of effort, and now have a sore head and all the muscles in my neck ache." Link -via Arbroath

Minion, You Need This Clap Trap Pillow! Posted: 24 Sep 2013 09:30 AM PDT If you ever played Borderlands, then you either love or hate Clap Trap. Either way, you'll love to punch or hug this Clap Trap pillow by Etsy seller Cyberscribe. The shop also sells other Borderlands characters like Mad Moxxi, Death Trap, Salvador and Gaige. Link

Happy National Punctuation Day! Posted: 24 Sep 2013 09:00 AM PDT September 24th is National Punctuation Day, celebrated since 2004. At the National Punctuation Day official website, you can learn about different punctuation marks and their usage, submit a picture of bad punctuation, or get the recipe for Punctuation Meat Loaf. There is also an essay contest, open for entries until October 31st. Link (Image credit: The NeatoShop)

The Settlers of Catan Cookbook Posted: 24 Sep 2013 08:30 AM PDT Friend of the blog Chris-Rachael Oseland has published a new cookbook! You've probably already seen many of her geektastic foods, such as Transformers pull-apart bread, the Captain America shield breakfast and 1-up mushroom pizza rolls. When it comes to geeky food, Chris-Rachael is deservedly known as the Kitchen Overlord. Chris-Rachael's newest book, Wood for Sheep: The Unauthorized Settlers Cookbook, is inspired by the game The Settlers of Catan. It's fun, but it's also practical. Chris-Rachael uses the game board layout to provide a variety of options for people with different dietary needs: Whenever I game, two things invariably happen. First, a generous gamer who has somehow miraculously reached adulthood without any food allergies or dietary restrictions will offer to buy everyone pizza. Yay! Second, half the people in the room say, man, they wish they could eat pizza, but one has Celiac disease and another is lactose intolerant. For them, pizza might as well be poison. Then at least one other person quietly coughs that they're either a vegetarian or a paleo/primal dieter. By the time everyone with limited diet has bowed out, you realize the person who suggested pizza is the only person in the room who can safely eat it.I hate situations like that. Too often, the poor, generous gamer who just wanted to top off everyone's fuel tanks so the group could keep playing without interruption now feels like a jerk. That's not right. Feeding a mixed group of geeks is hard. [...] Even if you don't play the game this book is based on, you recognize those red, green, and yellow hexes as an iconic part of geek culture. Lay out a hex shaped spread in those colors and you're automatically flying your geek flag. Plus, the edible hex maps look amazing. Each one is tailored to fit multiple dietary restrictions. As an extra bonus, most of them honestly aren't that hard to prepare.I hope this book is helpful for any geeks struggling to figure out how to feed a group of people whose digestive systems all seem to be at war. I promise, no matter how physically limited or just plain picky they are, it really is possible to invite almost all of your friends over for the same meal. Pick up some cheap, disposable hex shaped dishes and you can even do it with style. Link

What Does the Fox Say: the Animated Story Posted: 24 Sep 2013 08:00 AM PDT (YouTube link) The question originally posed by the Norwegian duo Ylvis gets a backstory. It turns out that the fox had to decide himself what to say! This interpretation is by Tommy and Markus Vad Flaaten, Norwegian animators who go by the name Twintrash. -via Daily of the Day

Finally Your Baby Can Look More Like Your Pug Posted: 24 Sep 2013 07:30 AM PDT Pug owners are a dedicated lot. Fortunately, they can still learn to love their own babies...as long as said youngsters start to take on the appearance of their beloved pooches. These crocheted pug hats by Etsy seller Catily Crochet are a great first step towards that goal. OK, maybe that's not the real purpose of these hats. Either way, they are simply adorable. Link

Hand-Drawn Atlas of the United States Posted: 24 Sep 2013 07:00 AM PDT Frances Henshaw was a 14-year-old schoolgirl when she drew a series of maps in 1828. There were only 24 states at that time; she reproduced 19 of them. Henshaw preserved her work in a book with information about each state in beautiful handwriting. Besides these maps, Henshaw’s book also contains carefully transcribed information about astronomy (likewise a socially-sanctioned area of study for young women), American history, and climatic patterns of the world. While this personal atlas was produced as a school project, Henshaw clearly relished and took pride in her work. An inscription on the title page indicates that she saved the book and gave it to her son in 1872.   Follow the links at Slate to see the entire book and more analysis of the work. Link (Image source: David Rumsey Map Collection)

Stopped Up Posted: 24 Sep 2013 06:30 AM PDT Stopped Up Are you looking for a fun way to plug up your favorite bottle of wine? You need the Stopped Up wine bottle stopper from the NeatoShop. This great wine bottle plug looks like a old-school sink or bathtub plug. The Stopped Up stopper is made of silicone and with a stainless steel ball and chain to give it that retro plug look.  Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Barware & Cocktail items.  Link

Prepare Your Kitty For Breaking Bad's Finale Posted: 24 Sep 2013 06:30 AM PDT Is your kitten a Heisenpuss? Or maybe a Jesse Purrman? Either way, Etsy seller ToScarboroughFair has you covered with her special, adorable handmade cat hats. Just make sure that your kitty doesn't start shilling nip on the side just because he has such a cool hat. Link Via Fashionably Geek

The Difference Between Sperm and Sperm Whales Posted: 24 Sep 2013 06:00 AM PDT (YouTube link) The physics of scale has a profound effect on locomotion. The way we move through the world seems so normal, but is very different from what a single-cell organism has to deal with. The title comparison of this TED-Ed presentation comes from the fact that a sperm is a single cell that must move, but cannot do it the same way larger organisms like a whale moves around. Aatish Bhatia gives us the short version, with animation by Brad Purnell. You'll find a more in-depth explanation at Bhatia's website. Link -via Viral Viral Videos

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