Neatorama

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• Celebration, Florida
• <i>The Nightmare Before Christmas</i> Engagement Ring
• The Alien Hoax That Had People Talking Back In 1958
• Don’t Steal Our Butter, Butterfly
• Her Name Was Rose - A Dream Of Companions Past
• Fourteen Specialty Services Catering to the Wealthiest of the Wealthy
• Michigan Mammoth
• The Surf's Up on the Red Sea
• Fearless French Bulldog Braves Bears, Makes Them Run for the Hills
• Prison Inmate Debate Team Defeats Harvard
• Dog Drives Toddler Around in Electric Car
• 16-Year Old Invents Wheelchair Stroller
• Visit These Real-Life Literary Horror Houses
• Viral Pinterest Photos That Are Fake
• 11 Books That Scared Master of Horror Stephen King
• Bobo Fett - His Performances Will Blow You Away!
• To Scale: The Solar System
• Drunk Squirrel Thrown out of Bar after Causing £300 of Damage

Celebration, Florida Posted: 05 Oct 2015 05:00 AM PDT The following is an article from the book Uncle John's Canoramic Bathroom Reader. Disney World may be a nice place to visit… but would you want to live there? (Image credit: Bobak Ha'Eri) WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR By the early 1960s, Walt Disney was no longer content to be an animator, movie director and producer, theme-park designer, and TV show host. What he really wanted to do was build a city in central Florida. But not just a city— a “planned community” that would serve as a utopian example for future urban planners. He called it “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow,” or EPCOT for short. Top-level executives at the Walt Disney Company (not to mention Disney’s financial advisors) thought he was out of his mind. But they had to give him the benefit of the doubt— just a few years earlier, the same people thought that building a “kiddie park” in a California orange grove would bankrupt Disney and his company. They were wrong, of course. Disneyland, which opened in 1955, became one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. (YouTube link) Even so, Disney’s plans for EPCOT were fairly bold. He’d never built a community before. But he had overseen the complex design and development of Disneyland, and he wanted to draw on that experience to build EPCOT. For example, he wanted to install small elevated trains like Disneyland’s People Mover, as well as a citywide monorail. What automobile traffic that was left, Disney planned to limit to underground tunnels, like the ones used by park staff. EPCOT would also be laid out, like Disneyland, in a circle, with businesses in the center and residential areas (with enough housing for 20,000 people) along the perimeter. GET A JOB But Disney also wanted to make sure the community ran smoothly and according to his vision. That meant that EPCOT residents would not be allowed to own property— homes would be rental-only, and tenants would have no voting rights or any say in community lawmaking. And while that sounds very similar to a modern-day elderly residence home, Disney actually didn’t want any retirees living in EPCOT. Everyone (except for children) would have to be employed, and employed at EPCOT. Disney actively wanted the town to be a showcase for advanced technology and to serve as a tribute to American ingenuity and the benefits of American capitalism. “CENTER” OF THE WORLD The Disney Company aggressively developed the idea of EPCOT until 1966, when it came to an abrupt halt. What happened? Walt Disney died… and so did his dream of EPCOT. With Walt out of the way, Disney executives no longer had to pretend they wanted any part of the massive undertaking of creating and running a city. Besides, they had much bigger fish to fry— they had to get the company’s second theme park, Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, up and running by its announced 1971 opening date. When that park proved to be even more successful than Disneyland, the company announced plans to expand the Florida complex into Walt Disney World, which included plans for a second park— EPCOT Center. It opened in October 1982. (Image credit: Benjamin D. Esham) It was not the EPCOT that Walt Disney had imagined— it wasn’t a town; it was an amusement park. But it was based on EPCOT’s original conceptual art, and it does positively ponder the future. Visitors to Future World can see cutting-edge technology and innovation. The rest of the park, called World Showcase, is like a permanent world’s fair— a series of small areas, each representing a different country. A DREAM IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES But the original EPCOT dream failed to die, probably because of the lasting— and lucrative—lucrative— success of Walt Disney World. The company had long since established “Disney” as a clean, wholesome, family-friendly, all-American brand. The company also deified Disney, and looked to his old playbook for new ideas. Result: in the early 1990s, the Disney Company created the Celebration Company, charged with building a “perfect community” on a 4,900-acre plot just eight miles south of Walt Disney World. (Image credit: Simonhardt93) Michael Eisner, the company’s CEO at the time, challenged Celebration’s designers to, as he put it, “make history.” Their ideas had little in common with what Uncle Walt had planned for EPCOT. Instead of building a futuristic utopia with people-movers, monorails, underground tunnels, and shiny angular buildings, they created a community based on “new urbanism,” a design philosophy that stresses the need for walkable neighborhoods, open spaces, and traditional architecture. Ironically, lots of its other buildings resemble the nostalgic all-American small-town buildings created for Main Street in Disneyland. However, Celebration doesn’t have a “Main Street,” because of a local law that says no two streets in the same county can have the same name. CELEBRATE! OR ELSE But Celebration did retain one element of Uncle Walt’s vision: strict control over the community’s politics, services, and appearance. Small alleyways were built behind houses for trash collection and the parking of residents’ cars (most houses don’t have garages that face the street). Tight neighborhood regulations dictated the color of residents’ curtains (white only) and the height of the grass on their front lawns, along with a slew of other nitpicky rules. The company also hand-picked the businesses that were allowed to set up shop in its commercial districts. Nevertheless, thousands of people wanted to live in Celebration. In 1996 the first 700 people started moving into one of the town’s “villages,” which was what it called its residential areas. (Average cost of a house in Celebration: $377,000.) Early promos called Celebration “a place that takes you back to that time of innocence.” Other people thought the Disney-town was creepy. “It is kind of Stepford Wife-like,” a relative of a resident told the New York Times. Perhaps contributing to the uneasiness, Celebration’s downtown contains several weird “seasonal” features. Every October, for example, leaf-shaped confetti flies out of lampposts along one street, much like the timed fireworks and parades that occur at Disney theme parks. The event, which attracts hundreds of Floridians who rarely get to experience fall foliage, occurs nightly on Fridays and Saturdays. In December, fake snow made out of soap fills the air while Christmas music trickles in from hidden speakers. (Other annual highlights include a pie festival that’s televised on Food Network and a “Posh Pooch” event in which local residents dress up their dogs in fancy clothing.) PARADISE LOST (Image credit: Wassssuuuup!/Adam R) As Celebration grew, so did discord among its residents. The one thing that Disney and his successors wanted to hold on to in Celebration —control— is what ultimately sank the community. Homeowners became frustrated by the company’s control over the town, its government, and its businesses. Hundreds of homes remained unsold; many others were sold by fed-up residents for far less than they’d paid. And reality continues to shake up “the perfect community” every now and then: • In 2010 vandals covered Celebration’s memorial for veterans in black graffiti. • Around that same time, the local elementary school was put on lockdown after a woman reported that her estranged husband was driving around town wielding a gun. • That same year, a SWAT team and a tank were called in to deal with the owner of a failing security business who barricaded himself in his house. A 14-hour standoff ended in tragedy when the man committed suicide. America’s “Great Recession” of the late 2000s didn’t help the town much, either. It caused property values to plummet 60 percent within four years. Nearly 500 houses had to be repossessed by banks and lenders. Local residents also began contending with problems that impact most American communities: burglaries, vagrancy, and divorce. Several homeowners say that the town’s blandness ruined their marriages. (The term used to describe the phenomenon: “Celebration Separation.”) THE GOOD AND THE BAD Those who stayed relish Celebration’s relatively good safety record and quality of life. Many of them refer to it as “the Bubble” and, as a homeowner once joked to a reporter, Celebration will feel like a real town when a bike finally gets stolen. While we don’t know if that has happened yet, Celebration’s first reported homicide occurred in 2010. A retired schoolteacher named Matteo Giovanditto was found dead in his condo. The murderer was a transient who claimed Giovanditto tried to drug and assault him. It was later revealed that the victim had a history of sexually abusing children. END OF THE LINE In 2004 the Disney Company sold off much of its property in Celebration’s town center and started scaling back its role in the community. According to some insiders, that was the plan from the start; Disney intended to stick around only long enough to make a huge profit off the real estate. Depending on whom you ask, Celebration may have just been a shrewd business venture all along. But while Celebration may no longer be an official “Disney town”… it’s still just a ten-minute drive from Walt Disney World. (Image credit: Dough4872) _______________________________ The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Canoramic Bathroom Reader. The latest annual edition of Uncle John’s wildly successful series features fascinating history, silly science, and obscure origins, plus fads, blunders, wordplay, quotes, and a few surprises 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!

<i>The Nightmare Before Christmas</i> Engagement Ring Posted: 05 Oct 2015 04:00 AM PDT It's a gloriously, beautifully romantic scene. At the end of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack and Sally confess their love to each other. This is the inspiration for a custom engagement ring by Austin Moore. It has a blue topaz as a background for Jack and Sally, who are represented by two white diamonds.

The Alien Hoax That Had People Talking Back In 1958 Posted: 05 Oct 2015 03:00 AM PDT People were a little more gullible back in 1958, and the Roswell incident had everybody buzzing about aliens, so we'll cut them a little slack for believing this guy was actually a being from another world. Eye witnesses reported seeing a glowing, two foot tall alien (or ten feet tall, depending on who you asked) that could run faster than any human, but really they were just seeing Jerry Sprague in his crappy costume. Jerry and his buddies decided to capitalize on the alien sighting trend by creating a “little blue man” costume sure to be the talk of the town, with blue glow-in-the-dark paint and a football helmet equipped with flashing lights. The "Little Blue Man Hoax" probably wouldn't be so well received nowadays, but the cops who arrested Jerry Sprague and his buddies back in '58 found the whole thing funny and let them off with a warning. -Via Boing Boing

Don’t Steal Our Butter, Butterfly Posted: 05 Oct 2015 02:00 AM PDT A few facts about butterflies, from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Attack of the Factoids.  People in the Middle Ages in Europe believed that butterflies were fairies in disguise, fluttering by to steal their dairy products. In the early 1700s, butterfly collector Lady Eleanor Glanville was declared insane after an entomologist testified, “None but those deprived of their Senses would go in Pursuit of butterflyes.” There are 15,000 to 20,000 species of butterflies in the world— 4,000 are in the South American rain forests alone. Like bees, butterflies pollinate plants. Some butterflies have ears on their wings. Butterflies suck nectar from flowers using their proboscis, which works like a straw. When not in use, it curls up so it’s out of the way. The scales on a butterfly’s wing overlap like roof tiles. Lolita writer Vladimir Nabokov was also a compulsive butterfly collector and researcher. _______________________________ The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Attack of the Factoids. Weighing in at over 400 pages, it's a fact-a-palooza of obscure information. 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!

Her Name Was Rose - A Dream Of Companions Past Posted: 05 Oct 2015 01:00 AM PDT Her Name Was Rose by Sugarpoultry Although he has lived nine lifetimes before, and will live at least four more in the future, the Doctor knows he will never forget his former companion Rose. It was Rose who stood up to the Nestene Consciousness, and she who stood bravely laughing in the face of death, but that's not why the Doctor misses her so. No, the Doctor wishes he had Rose back by his side because she always smelled good no matter what happened to them, and who can blame him for remembering her scent fondly when he's had to smell Captain Jack's stinky feet for a millennium? Share some love for your favorite sci-fi characters with this Her Name Was Rose t-shirt by Sugarpoultry, it's the nostalgiac way to keep the tenth doctor, and his awesome companion, alive in the hearts of your fellow Whovians. Visit Sugarpoultry's Facebook fan page, official website, Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter, then head on over to her NeatoShop for more wonderfully geeky designs: Na Na Na Na Nightfury I Don't Want To Go Same Software, Different Case Heart Of A Chief, Soul Of A Dragon View more designs by Sugarpoultry | More Sci-Fi T-shirts | New T-Shirts Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Fourteen Specialty Services Catering to the Wealthiest of the Wealthy Posted: 05 Oct 2015 01:00 AM PDT A photo posted by Rich Dogs Of Instagram (@richdogsofig) on Mar 1, 2015 at 7:38pm PST Image: Rich Dogs of Instagram Many luxuries that us "common folk" could barely conceive of as options in life are enjoyed by the so-called one percent on a regular basis. For every inconvenience or unpleasant circumstance that rich people could endure, there is an enterprising person marketing that service to them for a hefty price tag.  The linked article lists fourteen such services that the uber wealthy partake in, in order to make their lives easier or more exciting, to make them more attractive, etc. One such business is Hollywood Pet Mom, the brainchild of "canine well being expert" Lexi Beermann. She offers multiple resources including a 24-hour Puppy Nurse program for $8,000 per month or $36,000 for six months. As Puppy Nurse, Beermann lives with the client's pampered pooch in their guesthouse or at her home. Post Puppy Nurse treatment, the dog supposedly emerges trained and perfectly behaved. A $3,700, five-day "boot camp" for problem pups is also part of the program, a service for which some clients have flown their doggies in on private jets.  Holistic concierge vet Dr. Patrick Mahaney makes $525 house calls and offers in-home pet sitting. The doctor once personally obtained and delivered an international health certificate to a billionaire in 24 hours. This enabled the dog to fly to the meet its owners and their $300 million yacht in Turks and Caicos.  Read about more luxury services that cater to the super wealthy here.

Michigan Mammoth Posted: 05 Oct 2015 12:00 AM PDT James Bristle of Lima Township, Michigan, dug up what he first thought was a fence post, but it was a bone -a mammoth bone! The farmer contacted the University of Michigan, who sent paleontology professor Daniel Fisher out to get a look. Such bones are reported occasionally, but they usually turn out to be from mastodons. This one was a genuine woolly mammoth. Was there more to it? Fisher wanted to find out, but there was a catch- Bristle could only spare one day for an excavation, because farm work can’t just stop for an indefinite dig. So Fisher and his team did a banzai dig on Thursday, and carefully and quickly recovered the bones. So far, they are excited about the find. (YouTube link) “We think we’re dealing with an animal that was at least butchered by humans,” even if the humans didn't kill it, Fisher said. He believes the carcass was placed in a pond — a practice he's observed evidence of at other dig sites in the area. “It was essentially stored meat,” he said. Fisher doesn't have quite as much evidence as he'd like to confirm that theory, but he hopes that the bones will yield more information. Legally, the bones still belong to Bristle, because the university didn’t have time before the dig to secure a donation. Bristle has yet to decide whether the school will have long-term access to the skeleton. Read more on the story at The Washington Post. -via TYWKIWDBI

The Surf's Up on the Red Sea Posted: 04 Oct 2015 10:00 PM PDT (Dan Piraro/Bizarro Comics) Have a heart, Moses. They'll never have a surfing opportunity like this ever again. In fact, since they're facing 40 years in the desert wilderness, so they won't be able to surf at all. Let them have one last ride.

Fearless French Bulldog Braves Bears, Makes Them Run for the Hills Posted: 04 Oct 2015 08:00 PM PDT YouTube Link When two young bears enter the gated area leading to this French bulldog's home, he springs into action. Without hesitation, the Frenchie descends upon the bears like the proverbial Bat Out of Hell. The dog doesn't let up with the scare tactics until both bears are off the premises. Someone give that canine a steak! Via Tastefully Offensive

Prison Inmate Debate Team Defeats Harvard Posted: 04 Oct 2015 06:00 PM PDT (Photo: Peter Foley/Wall Street Journal) Harvard's crack debate team was taken by surprise. Its members didn't expect that their opponents, inmates from the Eastern New York Correctional Facility, to offer much of a challenge. But the judges ruled that the prisoners, who are participating in a rigorous educational program offered by Bard College, had won. The topic was this resolution: "Public schools in the United States should have the ability to deny enrollment to undocumented students." The Wall Street Journal reports on the battle: The audience burst into applause. That included about 75 of the prisoners’ fellow students at the Bard Prison Initiative, which offers a rigorous college experience to men at Eastern New York Correctional Facility, in the Catskills. […] The Harvard team members said they were impressed by the prisoners’ preparation and unexpected line of argument. “They caught us off guard,” said Anais Carell, a 20-year-old junior from Chicago. The prison team had its first debate in spring 2014, beating the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. Then, it won against a nationally ranked team from the University of Vermont, and in April lost a rematch against West Point. -via reddit

Dog Drives Toddler Around in Electric Car Posted: 04 Oct 2015 04:00 PM PDT (YouTube link) Oliver has a tiny electric car just big enough for himself, but he’s managed to squeeze in Daisy the dog, too. Mom has a remote that can kill the power any time. On this day, Daisy is the one doing the steering! -via Viral Viral Videos

16-Year Old Invents Wheelchair Stroller Posted: 04 Oct 2015 02:00 PM PDT (Image: Fox 2) Since she was 5 years old, Sharina Jones of Detroit, Michigan has used a wheelchair. When she recently became a mom, she found a new obstacle to overcome: it was impossible to use a conventional stroller while in her wheelchair. That's where 16-year old Alden Kane stepped in. He designed and built this prototype stroller that clamps onto Jones's wheelchair. Her baby's car seat fits snugly into the top. Now Jones can easily take her baby around by herself. Fox 2 reports: The young engineer spent months working on the project, making sure it would be comfortable for Mom and for baby. So, using lightweight steel tubing, this baby carrier easily clamps onto the chair and then the baby's car seat seat snugly sets right in. So far, the prototype is a huge hit. "After six months of hard work, six months of working in the machine shop designing it up, it was priceless seeing the design on her wheelchair, being used with her child in it," Alden says. -via Bored Panda

Visit These Real-Life Literary Horror Houses Posted: 04 Oct 2015 12:00 PM PDT As we turn to our October habit of reading, watching, and re-enacting horror stories, you may wonder about those who wrote those stories, their inspirations, and their environments. Take a look at Stephen King’s house -it’s just perfect for imagining horrific plot points, don’t you think? The house was built in the mid-19th century, but the gate with the bats was added by King himself, which he reportedly regrets because of the crazy people it attracts. Duh. Get a look at the homes once inhabited by other writers, such as Anne Rice, Clive Barker, Edgar Allan Poe, and others, at Flavorwire.

Viral Pinterest Photos That Are Fake Posted: 04 Oct 2015 10:00 AM PDT Most of you have probably never heard of the moon melon -unless you're a regular Pinterest user. In that case, you probably know that this Japanese melon will "switch flavors after you eat it -everything sour will taste sweet, everything salty will taste bitter, etc." Of course, there's a reason most people haven't heard of it -it's not real! And this pastel, rainbow-colored snake is also not real (though it is a pretty Photoshop). If you've ever seen something suspiciously cool on Pinterest, you won't want to miss this collection of viral Pinterest photos that are actually totally fake.

11 Books That Scared Master of Horror Stephen King Posted: 04 Oct 2015 08:00 AM PDT Author Stephen King | Image: Pinguino It would likely take a well written and original horror tale to impress the master of that book genre, Stephen King. The man has been at it so long, he probably has at least considered every possible avenue of horror. The linked article presents a list of eleven books that scared Stephen King, thus having won his scream of approval.  One book on the list is The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood. From its description on Amazon,  "No. 23 has a secret. In this bedsit-riddled south London wreck, lorded over by a lecherous landlord, something waits to be discovered. Yet all six residents have something to hide. Collette and Cher are on the run; Thomas is a reluctant loner; while a gorgeous Iranian asylum seeker and a 'quiet man' nobody sees try to stay hidden. And watching over them all is Vesta - or so she thinks. In the dead of night, a terrible accident pushes the neighbours into an uneasy alliance. But one of them is a killer, expertly hiding their pastime, all the while closing in on their next victim... As a cloying heatwave suffocates the city, events build to an electrifying climax in this dark, original and irresistibly compelling thriller." Here's what Stephen King says about the book: "If you read Alex Marwood's The Wicked Girls, her new one—The Killer Next Door—is even better. Scary as hell. Great characters." Read about ten other books from the horror genre that Stephen King recommends here.

Bobo Fett - His Performances Will Blow You Away! Posted: 04 Oct 2015 07:00 AM PDT Bobo Fett by Don Calamari Due to a clerical error the bounty hunting Fett once known as Boba has been forced to transform his look to fit his silly new name Bobo. This didn't please the hunter at first, but once he saw how the little ones looked at him he warmed up to the idea of being a clown. And as an entertainer in Jabba's palace he was able to make more than enough for a brightly colored suit of Mandalorian armor and a bubble gun, and he no longer had to risk his life to be the star of the show. As war waged on across the galaxy, and Rebels fought to take down the Empire, Bobo became accustomed to using gags and props instead of force, like a man possessed by the spirit of clowndom! Bring some silly sci-fi flavor to your geeky wardrobe with this Bobo Fett t-shirt by Don Calamari, it's the hilarious way to get geared up for movie night! Visit Don Calamari's Facebook fan page, Instagram and Twitter, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more delightfully geeky designs: Better Call Maul Darth Knight Rises Kill Bilbo Jabba's Jurassic Palace View more designs by Don Calamari | More Funny T-shirts | New T-Shirts Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

To Scale: The Solar System Posted: 04 Oct 2015 07:00 AM PDT Robert Krulwich addresses the problem of our human inability to understand the vastness of space. There are no words to adequately describe it, so he falls back on the poetic description in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. See, the images we’ve all seen show the planets at a size we can comfortably see, while the space between them is compressed so that the solar system can fit on the page. The really big part of the solar system is space itself, and the planets are just microscopic in comparison. But a visual analogy might help. Wylie Overstreet and Alex Gorosh went out to the desert to make a model of the solar system to scale. That’s the only place they could think of where there’s really enough room. This project aims to scale not only the planets, but the space between them.   (vimeo link) While our planet Earth is an actual blue marble, they have to drive a vehicle out to the other planetary orbits. Then it gets really neat, as they drive around with lights after dark to show the orbits. Krulwich says, The most wonderful moment comes at the very end, when we stand nose to nose with the marble that is Earth and look back at the actual sun coming up in the east and, astonishingly, their model sun and the real sun … match! They’re the same size. So the model suddenly feels real, and that’s when Overstreet takes Earth and tosses it along the desert floor so it rolls into orbit, and you see, really think you see, how small (minuscule? tiny? Lilliputian?) our little planet—home to all of us—actually, really is. It’s lip-bitingly beautiful.

Drunk Squirrel Thrown out of Bar after Causing £300 of Damage Posted: 04 Oct 2015 06:00 AM PDT (Photo: Peter Trimming) Some people are happy drunks. Others are friendly drunks. The squirrel in this story, unfortunately, is an angry drunk. He broke into the Honeybourne Railyway Club, a private club near Evansham, Worcestershire, UK after it had closed. He utterly trashed the place, getting sauced on beer in the process. Sam Boulter, the club secretary, trapped the squirrel in a trashcan, then thew it out. The Western Daily Press quotes Boulter: Yesterday the branch secretary of the club said the rodent had caused around £300 worth of damage. He added: "When I opened the door it was absolutely ransacked. "At first I thought we'd been burgled but I realised it was all still locked up and that's when we saw the squirrel. [...] "There were bottles scattered around, money scattered around and he had obviously run across the bar's pumps and managed to turn on the Caffrey's tap . "He must have flung himself on the handle and he must have drank some as he was staggering around all over the place and moving a bit slowly. "I've never seen a drunk squirrel before. He looked a bit worse for wear. -via Mickey White

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