Neatorama

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• Anti-Drug Campaign Fail - Too Cool To Do Drugs Pencils
• Extreme Ice Skating
• <i>Game of Thrones</i> Cross Stitch Sampler
• Drowning
• 21 Sexy Ways To Eat Spam
• "Hazardous Materials" is an Understatement
• Medieval Manuscript Shows a Cat Riding a Horse
• 3D Glasses
• Crocheted Cocoon
• 9 Terrifying Urban Legends From Victorian London
• Adventure Timey-Wimey
• Elsa Gives The Disney Princesses A Dose Of Reality
• Game Controller Dog Leash
• Russian Sense of Humor at the Sochi Closing Ceremonies
• Super Mario Theme on Ancient Instrument
• Research Shows That Cows Produce More Milk When Listening to Slow Jams
• Hanging Gardens
• <i>The Legend of Zelda</i> Pizza
• Totally Knotty Wooden Doll Make-Up
• The Opium Wars
• Elders React To Flappy Bird
• Jet Failure
• The Heart Tree Tattoo

Anti-Drug Campaign Fail - Too Cool To Do Drugs Pencils Posted: 24 Feb 2014 04:00 AM PST If you believe everything a pencil with a slogan tells you then you are totally rad, too cute to be true, looking sharp and drugs are only to be done after the pencil is sharpened to half its original size. This anti-drug propaganda pencil was released in the late 90s with the unfortunate slogan “Too Cool To Do Drugs” down the side, and if they’d only thought to print the slogan the other way round it wouldn’t have turned into “Cool To Do Drugs” then simply “Do Drugs” and the final reminder "Drugs" as the pencil was sharpened down to a nub. Maybe the manufacturer wasn't keeping it "too cool" when they came up with the slogan? -Via Dangerous Minds

Extreme Ice Skating Posted: 24 Feb 2014 03:00 AM PST (YouTube link) In the winter, extreme skaters trade in their rollerblades for just blades. It’s as easy as covering a concrete skate park with a layer of freezing water! Well, easy of these ice cross skaters, not for you or me. Sooner or later, this will be another new sport added to the winter Olympics so Americans can win more medals. -via Viral Viral Videos

<i>Game of Thrones</i> Cross Stitch Sampler Posted: 24 Feb 2014 02:00 AM PST Tumblr blogger andthenshewaslike is working on a detailed cross stitch inspired by George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. It's a map of Westeros on linen. It's similar to this stitchwork map that we've featured previously. -via Geek Art Gallery

Drowning Posted: 24 Feb 2014 01:00 AM PST Moga drew this, which I found on her Tumblr blog. I first thought, poor kid, wait until she drops that school block and picks up the debt block, plus the blocks for job, marriage, kids, divorce, loss, loneliness, and illness. But along the way, you find out that you are stronger than you ever realized you could be. I did not want to actually say all that until I saw the followup panels, which you can see if you continue reading.     The original piece called “Drowning” drew over 200,000 Tumblr notes, plus other responses from people who empathized with her, were concerned and wanted to help, or just loved it. A few days later, Moga posted this follow-up piece with the caption: I’ve never been good with words, so I drew this to thank everyone for the overwhelming support about my recent piece “Drowning”. And then a few days later this one appeared. Her second followup work reflects what I had thought.    Most importantly: you’re stronger than you think. You can follow Moga’s art at Draw. Pray. Love. Or at her official website, or on DeviantART. -via Wil Wheaton

21 Sexy Ways To Eat Spam Posted: 24 Feb 2014 12:00 AM PST SPAM is a lovely bit of meat product in a can that is detested by some and beloved by Hawaiians, and those who know a great tasting cube shaped meat product when they see one, although there’s no accounting for taste in this age of quinoa fetishists who love slathering vegan butter on their gluten free toast. Those that know the simple pleasure of SPAM know that meals which incorporate SPAM into the mix can come out looking downright sexy to those who love a slice with their eggs, or on a Hawaiian roll. Check out this list of 21 Sexy Ways to Eat Spam and see if these recipes don’t get your mouth watering and your heart racing. Lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM!

"Hazardous Materials" is an Understatement Posted: 23 Feb 2014 11:00 PM PST (YouTube link) A truck in Russia carrying “insecure high pressure cylinders” has a little accident. The crash is just the beginning, though, as the cylinders keep going off, like, forever. Is it propane? Don’t ever take chances around those things. The driver escapes from the left side of the truck in the first 30 seconds, and after that no one wants to get anywhere near until the fireworks are completely over. Michael Bay would be proud. -via reddit

Medieval Manuscript Shows a Cat Riding a Horse Posted: 23 Feb 2014 10:00 PM PST (Photo: The National Library of France) The blog of medieval book historian Erik Kwakkel is one of the hidden gems of the internet, which is why I interviewed him 3 weeks ago. He's an expert on manuscripts, which is how he was able to dig up this funny image. It shows Reynard the Fox, a trickster character in medieval literature, racing Tybalt, the Prince of Cats (who was referenced in Act 2, Scene 4 of Romeo and Juliet). It appears that Tybalt is winning. He turns his head and sticks out his tongue at Reynard in mockery. P.S. This isn't the first cat-marked medieval manuscript that we've featured. We've previously shown one that has cat paw prints and another that was peed on by a cat.

3D Glasses Posted: 23 Feb 2014 09:00 PM PST Um, I hate to break the news to these undersea creatures, but 3D glasses aren’t cool. You otter get something more fashionable for that porpoise. It’s the newest comic from Liz Climo.

Crocheted Cocoon Posted: 23 Feb 2014 08:00 PM PST These photos show scenes from a performance art piece by Bea Camacho. She calls it "Enclosure." She crocheted an cocoon for herself for 11 hours without interruption. In an interview, Camacho explained how crocheting is a way of returning home: My work deals with experiences of isolation created by physical, mental or emotional separation. A lot of this is deeply connected with my personal experience of having moved away from home at the age of eleven and grown up apart from my family. Along with themes of separation and isolation, I want the work to address ideas of home and belonging. To me, crochet is associated with home, warmth and security. However, this notion formed quite outside my own experience. I did not grow up with mothers or grandmothers who crocheted or knitted. For me, the crocheting refers to a somewhat idealized version of home. I hope that in my work it speaks to ideas of comfort and discomfort, familiarity and alienation. I was also drawn to crocheting because of its repetitive and meditative nature. I think there is often an obsessive quality to my work.   -via Wip It Good

9 Terrifying Urban Legends From Victorian London Posted: 23 Feb 2014 07:00 PM PST Have you ever wondered whether people in other times and other places spread urban legends the way folks do today? Well, they couldn’t do it exactly the same way, because internet. But rumors and terrifying tales were passed around that only tenuously had anything to do with reality. The scares and panics from Victorian London were well documented so that we can enjoy them today. Here’s one that kept folks off the streets for a while. 1. The Great Garroting Panic of 1862 What they believed: A band of criminals were stalking the capital, garroting anyone unfortunate enough to come into their path. One unfortunate M.P., Hugh Pilkington, had already fallen victim to them as he made his way home from his club. Why they believed it: Pilkington was mugged and quite possibly choked - this much is true. But this random incident exploded in the public’s imagination. And that was due to magazines and periodicals, who were keen to stoke up a frenzy about the end of transportation to Australia and the activities of ticket-of-leave men (offenders released on a provisional licence), as well as the apparent ineffectiveness of reform programmes for criminals. As a result, in 1863 Parliament passed the Garrotters Act, which reintroduced corporal punishment for armed or violent robbery, and in 1864 the Penal Servitude Act, which made mandatory the police supervision of ticket-of-leave men. That’s only the beginning. People also feared pigs roaming in the sewers, ghosts, mutant humans, wild animal attacks, and more, which you can read about at Buzzfeed.

Adventure Timey-Wimey Posted: 23 Feb 2014 06:00 PM PST It would be improper for me to be jealous of a 9-year old girl, but I am nonetheless. James Hance, whose geeky artwork we've featured extensively, made this mural mashing up Adventure Time and Doctor Who. Finn appears to be the Eleventh Doctor and Jake the Tenth. Lumpy Space Princess is, appropriately, an adipose. Hance rendered the mural in acrylic paint. It measures about 4 by 5 feet.

Elsa Gives The Disney Princesses A Dose Of Reality Posted: 23 Feb 2014 05:00 PM PST (Video Link) Elsa is pretty down to earth as far as Disney royalty goes- she’s quite adaptable, brave and doesn’t need a man to make her life whole, so when she hands out advice the Disney princesses in attendance had better sit up and take notice. This well made musical short features some strong singing skills in the style of Disney, an incredibly animated cast and karaoke style captioning so you can sing along. It was created by AVbyte, makers of other fine pop culture themed musical shorts such as Super Mario World 3D The Musical and the totally timely Hipster Disney Princess The Musical. -Via Geeks Of Doom

Game Controller Dog Leash Posted: 23 Feb 2014 04:00 PM PST Instructables member Mike Warren has completely changed the dog walking experience with his modified Xbox controller: Move up, down, left, and right with the joysticks. Fire missiles and magical spells with your triggers, access the dogwalking menu by hitting select, or hold down the Xbox button to reset or turn off your dog. To accomplish all of this, Mike had to remove the rumble motor. But that's okay. Now it's a repository for poop bags. He tells us that the Konami code is enabled, which is handy. And if you need a break, just tap on the paws button.

Russian Sense of Humor at the Sochi Closing Ceremonies Posted: 23 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST The most delightful moment from the Olympic Closing  ceremonies at Sochi involved the Russians poking fun at their own Opening Ceremonies. In case you are in the U.S. and haven’t seen the show yet, I have refrained from posting the picture here because someone will call it a spoiler. However, if you are American and have decided to watch The Walking Dead tonight instead, check out the gif at Uproxx. Pictured here is ceremony director Konstantin Ernst, who should be proud. (Image credit: NickdMiller)

Super Mario Theme on Ancient Instrument Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:00 PM PST (YouTube link) The Chinese Sheng is a musical instrument that resembles a cross between a clarinet and a pipe organ. It dates back at least three thousand years. Here, musician Li Jin Li performs the Super Marios Bros. theme on a Sheng, complete with sound effects. -via Tastefully Offensive

Research Shows That Cows Produce More Milk When Listening to Slow Jams Posted: 23 Feb 2014 01:00 PM PST (Photo: born1945) Do you want your cows to get in the mood to produce more milk? Scientists have found that playing slow, rhythmic music helps.  In 2001, psychologists at the University of Leicester (UK) played fast music and slow music to 2 different groups of cows. The cows that heard fast music demonstrated no change in milk production. But the cows that listened to slow music increased their milk output by 3%. Some dairy farmers agree with this assessment and play music for their cows. To promote the practice, the British Columbia Dairy Association is holding a contest which asks participants to submit playlists of good milk production music. What songs would you play for the cows? -via Foodbeast

Hanging Gardens Posted: 23 Feb 2014 12:00 PM PST British floral artist Rebecca Louise Law has done all kinds of art installations with flowers, but the most impressive are the ones in which she suspends them from the ceiling! Law hangs thousands of flowers from wire to cover an open space. I would love to see her in the process of creating these. Imagine walking through a beautiful building with a flower garden suspended over your head -or around your head! The various installations hang at different heights, depending on what’s going on underneath. See a selection of Law’s floral works at My Modern Met. -via mental_floss

<i>The Legend of Zelda</i> Pizza Posted: 23 Feb 2014 11:00 AM PST The Legend of Zelda premiered 28 years ago last Friday. The celebrate the anniversary of that video game franchise, Danacem made this pizza. It held up pretty well in the oven, don't you think? Hopefully there's Lon Lon Milk mixed into the dough. -via Technabob P.S. Be sure to check out Danacem's Tetris pizza.

Totally Knotty Wooden Doll Make-Up Posted: 23 Feb 2014 10:00 AM PST It’s the job of the make-up artist to turn ordinary people into extraordinary creations that both bring the artist's vision to life and please the directors behind the scenes. But making soft skin look like it’s made out of wood is quite a challenge, and if the facial appliance is too bulky or rubbery, and/or the paintjob isn’t really selling the feel of natural wood, you’ve got a mighty obvious rubber mask thing going on and the director probably won’t be happy. This wooden doll makeup, which was put together by make-up artist Stephanie Hernandez using prosthetics and makeup from The Scream Team, has definitely achieved a realistically wooden effect which makes her friend Laura Jones look like both a knotty girl and a total stiff! -Via Nerd Approved

The Opium Wars Posted: 23 Feb 2014 09:00 AM PST Beginning in the Middle Ages, England imported tons of tea from China. What could they export? China was draining the British Empire of silver and gold, but did not want their natural resources -until the British began selling them opium produced in India. The flow of gold and silver began to reverse, until 12 million Chinese were addicted to opium. The Chinese government banned the drug in 1729 and again in 1799, but the British found it too profitable to stop the trade. In 1839 a serious crackdown began, when British factories and ports in South China were closed, and 20,000 chests of opium were confiscated. Under the direction of Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston AKA Henry John Temple, British forces — 16 warships, including the iron-hulled Nemesis armed with Congreve rocket launchers, and more than two dozen transport ships with 4,000 troops — sailed to China and blockaded the Pearl River, near Humen, just south of Canton. They demanded reparations of £2 million to cover the loss of the confiscated opium chests. When the Chinese refused, the British attacked. In November 1839, the British sank a number of Chinese ships near Canton and over the next 2 ½ years attacked the coast and fought on land with deadly efficiency, killing an estimated 25,000 Chinese with a loss of less than 70 British troops. The results of the British incursion would lead to concessions, a lasting distrust between the East and the West, and eventually to the Second Opium War. Read more about the Opium Wars at Modern Farmer. Yes, it has some information about opium farming. -via the Presurfer

Elders React To Flappy Bird Posted: 23 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST (Video Link) Old(er) folks say the darndest things, and when they’re presented with the latest trend in annoying difficult video games they don’t have a problem pushing some buttons and expressing what a hard time they have playing video games, or understanding how such a simple game could have become so trendy. The Flappy Bird's day in the sun may be drawing to a close, but now a bunch of old(er) folks have been turned on to the nearly impossible to beat Nintendo ripoff, and some of them seem like they might actually play the game again when the cameras are off. Most, however, had their fill in about five minutes! -Via Laughing Squid

Jet Failure Posted: 23 Feb 2014 07:00 AM PST This photo found at Weird Vintage made me go look up the story. Sylvia at Fear of Landing was intrigued as well, and gathered many sources to tell the tale. The plane was a prototype of a jet bomber called English Electric Lightning F1. Test pilot Bob Sowray told his neighbor Jim Meads, a professional photographer, that he was going to test fly the plane on September 19, 1962. Meads was outside the airfield at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK, with his children, camera ready, hoping to catch the test flight. The test was carried out, but it was pilot George Aird in the plane instead of Sowray. Meads was talking to the tractor driver when something went wrong with the plane and Meads had just enough time to capture this picture. Pilot Aird ejected without a second to spare. He was injured, but lived to fly again. You can read the whole story with more pictures at Fear of Landing.

The Heart Tree Tattoo Posted: 23 Feb 2014 06:00 AM PST Jackie Rabbit, an artist in Roanoke, Virginia, made this crisp and striking tattoo. She calls it the "Heart Tree." The blood of the long buried heart flows up into the living tree, emerges as leaves before falling down to the ground in death.

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