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- Labor Intensive: The Way Childbirth Used to Be
- For Sale on Craigslist: Camouflage Truck
- Dogs Playing on Slides
- Needful Things - They Don't Call Them Possessions For Nothing
- Add Water to This $230 Toaster
- Game Over by PES
- Awesome Invention Lets You Pull a Suitcase Hands-Free
- Trying to Relate
- Polar Bear Tries to Eat Baby through the Glass
- The Most Common Family Types in America
- Bulldog Doesn't Need Water to Swim
- Bunkers Disguised as Quaint Swiss Villas
- This Possibly Possessed Keyboard Player Stole The Show
- Delicious Pokémon
- Mr. Ray's Day Care - He's Fishing For Customers
- The Animal Version Of "Brother From Another Mother"
- 26 Things that Inspired Movies
- No Mortal Knows The Password
- Dog Shuts Cat in Cabinet
- Janitors Accidentally Throw out Trash Can Art
- A Live Action Futurama Fan Film For The Ages
- Coffin Bar with Skeleton
- Origami Bird Lamps
- Boomer The Bengal Cat Shows Off His Skateboarding Skills
| Labor Intensive: The Way Childbirth Used to Be Posted: 21 Jul 2016 05:00 AM PDT (Image credit: Luc Melanson) Childbirth is no picnic. But at least it no longer involves chickens and weasels. Giving birth is hard. Or so I’ve heard. I don’t have the proper equipment, so when my children were born my job was restricted to feeding my wife ice chips and telling her she was a trouper. But after witnessing the sounds and faces she made, I’m assuming birth is hard. That said, I’m incredibly grateful that my kids were born in the last decade. Because childbirth in centuries past was almost incomprehensibly harder, more painful, and more dangerous than it is in modern-day America. Not only that: It was also a lot stranger. For starters, it involved far more animals than you might expect. According to the book Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born by Tina Cassidy, French midwives would place a chicken on the belly of the pregnant woman. The idea was that the scratchy claws would somehow speed up labor.
Sometimes it wasn’t just strange—it was downright brutal. (Well, more brutal than childbirth tends to be of its own accord.) German midwives were known to flog expectant women in a hearty attempt to scare the baby out of the womb. And then there was the machinery. If you want to lose some sleep, check out the diagram of a 20th-century baby-extraction contraption that involves forceps, ropes, and pulleys. (It can be found at London's Wellcome Library). Or just take my word for it and get your beauty rest. Other tools would fit right in at Christian Grey’s dungeon. As Randi Hutter Epstein describes in Get Me Out, “a few looked like fireplace stokers, and one looked like a gigantic cast-iron corkscrew.” Even though they were busy squeezing human beings out of their bodies, it was still important that women act like proper ladies and hosts. In colonial times, women in labor were expected to provide “groaning beers” and “groaning cakes” to their guests. Since they looked unseemly squatting or with their feet in the air, Victorian women were encouraged to lie down during birth. Unfortunately, as Epstein writes, the pose “may look ladylike but does not work very well for the mechanics of labor”—not to mention, it can be “excruciating.” Now, consider the odd ritual known as “couvade,” once practiced by several societies, including the Basques of Northern Spain. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the father would get into bed with his wife and simulate childbirth. That is, he pretended to undergo labor, just like the baby’s mother. And then, the mother would sometimes get to her feet hours after giving birth and wait on the father. By the way, don’t even think about asking for pain relief. According to Genesis 3:16, agonizing childbirth was punishment for Eve’s sin: “In pain shall you bring forth children.” And according to Sanjay Datta’s book Childbirth and Pain Relief: An Anesthesiologist Explains Your Options, in 1591, a Scottish woman named Euphaine Macalyane was burned to death for having the gall to ask her midwife for a remedy to alleviate her labor pains. Perhaps even worse: In traditional Siberian culture, it was thought that labor was a convenient time to interrogate the soon-to-be mom about any potential infidelities. She was told that the birth would be even more painful if she lied. It’s not even all ancient history. Fifty years ago, retired mining engineer George Blonksy and his wife, Charlotte, were granted a U.S. patent for their “Apparatus for Facilitating the Birth of a Child by Centrifugal Force,” which Jennifer Block describes in the bookPushed. Also known as “The Blonksy,” it was a floor-to-ceiling, cast-iron carousel of doom. The mother-to-be would be strapped in and spun around, generating a force seven times that of gravity to “counteract the atmospheric pressure opposing the emergence of the child.” The doctor stood by, ready to employ an emergency brake if necessary. So all in all, today’s birthing process is an improvement. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: “Easy for you to say, Mr. Breathing Coach.” __________________________
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| For Sale on Craigslist: Camouflage Truck Posted: 21 Jul 2016 04:00 AM PDT This gem of a truck is on sale in Lynchburg, Virginia. For only $1,800, you can get a truck with a truly perfect camouflage paint scheme. It blends into the background, including the shadows, like it's not even there. It's got 74,000 miles on the odometer, though. So although the paint job is "like new," the engine isn't. -via David Burge | ||||||||
| Posted: 21 Jul 2016 01:59 AM PDT Some dogs understand what’s supposed to happen on a playground slide, while others have yet to grasp the concept. It doesn’t seem to matter much, really; they all are having the time their lives! -via Tastefully Offensive | ||||||||
| Needful Things - They Don't Call Them Possessions For Nothing Posted: 21 Jul 2016 12:00 AM PDT When visiting the town of Castle Rock, Maine it's important to remember a few things- always be on your best behavior, minding your manners whenever you speak to a local, don't speak of any strange occurrences you may bear witness to while in town, and stay away from a shop called Needful Things. That shop is shunned by the locals for a reason, and even though a few folks in town refuse to stop paying Leland Gaunt a visit the rest of the town have learned their lesson about toying with forces beyond human control. You're no doubt wishing we would elaborate on that subject for a minute but the less you know about Needful Things the better... Advertise your favorite spooky fictional shop of horrors with this Needful Things t-shirt by Nemons, it's sure to make you a King among your fellow fans! Visit Nemons's Facebook fan page and Twitter, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more dark and geeky designs:
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! | ||||||||
| Add Water to This $230 Toaster Posted: 21 Jul 2016 12:00 AM PDT
Truly perfect toast is expensive. You need more than just top-tier bread. You also need to cook it the right way. And the Balmuda from Japan is the best machine for the job. At $230, it's expensive by toaster standards. But it comes with a novel approach to toasting: adding water. Bloomberg reports on how Gen Terao invented it:
-via Core 77 | ||||||||
| Posted: 20 Jul 2016 10:59 PM PDT A new animation from PES uses candy, cake, toys, kitchen utensils, and more to illustrate classic arcade games! There’s Centipede, Frogger, Asteroids, Space Invaders, and of course, Pac-Man. By the time it’s over, you’ll be hungry. -via Viral Viral Videos | ||||||||
| Awesome Invention Lets You Pull a Suitcase Hands-Free Posted: 20 Jul 2016 10:00 PM PDT
Robert Lian, an airline pilot, got tired of dragging his rolling luggage through airports with his hands. He wanted to be able to use his hands while walking with bags. So in 2014, he invented My Hitch. It's like a trailer hitch for your body. First, put on a belt or tight-fitting pants. My Hitch won't work if you're naked or wearing loose clothes. Then slip the plastic hook into the back of your pants, put the handle of your bag over the other end of the hook, and start walking. -via Gizmodo | ||||||||
| Posted: 20 Jul 2016 09:00 PM PDT To hipsters and teenagers, slang terms are cool for about a week, and then they are passé. That’s about the time that any hip organization catches onto them. Then those terms finally leak out into the larger corporate world. If the corporation, or worse, an advertiser, even gets the proper usage correct, they still sound like they are trying way too hard. And the young people who use the slang and the older people who recognize pandering when they see it both consider it silly. This is the latest from Sarah Andersen. | ||||||||
| Polar Bear Tries to Eat Baby through the Glass Posted: 20 Jul 2016 08:00 PM PDT A fun-size human appeared just outside the polar bear enclosure at the St. Louis Zoo in Missouri. It was the perfect snack. So the polar bear dove into the water and tried to snatch him. Alas, the glass got in the way. Keep trying! -via Telegraph | ||||||||
| The Most Common Family Types in America Posted: 20 Jul 2016 06:59 PM PDT What kind of relationships are in your household? The old-fashioned nuclear family with Mom, Dad, and a couple of children is still pretty common, but growing numbers of households involve more complex ties between parents and children, other relatives, unmarried partners, and non-relatives.
Nathan Yau charted the 50 most common household makeups in a chart, of which this is just a small corner. It’s strange to think that the most common household now contains a single person, but looking through the chart, I have lived, at one time or another, in eight of the ten configurations across the top of the chart. See the entire thing at Flowing Data. -via Digg | ||||||||
| Bulldog Doesn't Need Water to Swim Posted: 20 Jul 2016 06:00 PM PDT It's hot in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Arnold the bulldog wants to cool off in the kiddie pool. Even though it's empty, he's good. He'll just swim around in the air, dragging his body along the bottom. -via Tastefully Offensive | ||||||||
| Bunkers Disguised as Quaint Swiss Villas Posted: 20 Jul 2016 04:59 PM PDT What’s the best way to disguise a military bunker? Put something rather prosaic on top of it. Like a normal home, or better yet, a vacation home so that no one would get suspicious about it being empty. Photographer Christian Schwager identified and documented hundreds of “fake chalets” in Switzerland that were cleverly-hidden military installations of one kind or another.
After Schwager published a book of his photographs, more fake chalets were uncovered, and some, like the Villa Rose pictured above, were opened to the public as historical artifacts. See many more of the disguised military bunkers at Messy Nessy Chic. -via Metafilter | ||||||||
| This Possibly Possessed Keyboard Player Stole The Show Posted: 20 Jul 2016 04:00 PM PDT According to Phantom Of The Opera people who enjoy tickling the keys of a piano, organ or keyboard are prone to possession by evil spirits and have a natural propensity for evil. This theory doesn't include little old ladies who play the organ at church, or the piano gods Little Richard and Liberace, but it's safe to assume sinister forces are at work within this young lady. Either that or she's really freaking out about finals. -Via Dangerous Minds | ||||||||
| Posted: 20 Jul 2016 03:00 PM PDT Do you want your Pokémon to GO? Jadalnia is a restaurant in Poznan, Poland. Since Pokémon GO became a global sensation, they’ve made use of the Pokémon found in the kitchen! Would you care for some Charmander stir-fry? Squirtle soup? Or maybe Pikachu paté? This image was posted on their Facebook page. -via reddit | ||||||||
| Mr. Ray's Day Care - He's Fishing For Customers Posted: 20 Jul 2016 02:00 PM PDT Mr. Ray's Day Care by Vincent Trinidad It's easy to lose track of your children when you live under the sea, and single parents can use all the help they can get, so why not let Mr. Ray take a crack at caring for your child? At Mr. Ray's Day Care all kinds of young critters can come together and explore their oceanic habitat without fear of getting lost like Nemo or being eaten by a hungry halibut, because Ray is there to wrap your kids up and keep them safe. So send your kids to Mr. Ray's Day Care for safety's sake, where there's one flat fee and sea anemones are not allowed! Show some love for your favorite animated fish tales with this Mr. Ray's Day Care t-shirt by Vincent Trinidad, and watch your fellow fans light up like Dory when she actually remembers something. Visit Vincent Trinidad's Facebook fan page, official website and Instagram, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more delightfully geeky designs:
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! | ||||||||
| The Animal Version Of "Brother From Another Mother" Posted: 20 Jul 2016 01:59 PM PDT You're probably familiar with the “brother from another mother, sister from another mister” concept regarding people you meet in life who look like they could be your next-of-kin...or you. This spooky similarity often goes beyond merely looking the same, as you discover you share interests, taste and mannerisms in common with your doppelganger. The same thing can happen with animals, only their “brother from another mother” similarities can cross species, making a dog and a cat look like they were separated at birth. Perhaps this doppelganger effect exists so every animal species on Earth will learn to get along with each other, whether we're hairless apes or hairless critters. See more from 10+ Animal Brothers From Other Mothers here | ||||||||
| 26 Things that Inspired Movies Posted: 20 Jul 2016 12:59 PM PDT Some movies are based on true stories, some closer to the truth than others, but all ideas came from other ideas. Details in movies are often inspired by someone or something that had nothing to do with the story. Inspiration comes from all directions, and are then combined with other inspirations to produce something totally new. Eliot Morgan has the stories behind the concepts, scripts, and odd details in this week’s episode of the mental_floss List Show. | ||||||||
| Posted: 20 Jul 2016 12:00 PM PDT You should always keep your friends close, your enemies even closer and your passwords closest of all, like inside your brain never to be typed, written out or spoken aloud to anyone. There is no one you can trust with your password, not even your dearly beloved, so remember the teachings of Charlie Higson from Heck If I Know and stay safe while adventuring online. And beware ratchet hoes bearing gifts... -Via Geeks Are Sexy | ||||||||
| Posted: 20 Jul 2016 10:59 AM PDT This dog probably didn’t think much about it ahead of time, but when the opportunity arises, he takes advantage of the moment. His parting words are the icing on the cake. I’m sure he said, “And stay there!” -via Arbroath | ||||||||
| Janitors Accidentally Throw out Trash Can Art Posted: 20 Jul 2016 10:00 AM PDT
This is "Trash Can," a sculpture by Will Kurtz that was priced at $8,000. It consists of an overflowing trash can and a sculpture of a raccoon. The piece was on display at Art Southampton in New York City. Two weeks ago, it was among several sculptures arranged in an exhibit. Alas, before the show opened, cleaners, mistaking it for an ordinary trash can, emptied out all of the trash.
-via Weird News | Photo: watchwithkristin | ||||||||
| A Live Action Futurama Fan Film For The Ages Posted: 20 Jul 2016 09:00 AM PDT Which adjectives come to mind when you think of a live action Futurama fan film? If you said campy, cartoony and a little bit creepy then you've won first prize! So whaddya win? A chance to watch the trailer for an amazing looking Futurama fan film by Cinema Relics called Fan-O-Rama! Is it just me or does Dr. Farnsworth look like an ancient ninja turtle? -Via io9 | ||||||||
| Posted: 20 Jul 2016 07:59 AM PDT If you enjoyed the weird Craigslist adds from Portland, you’ll love the list of the weirdest Craigslist ads from Dallas! Maybe you own a tavern, or have always dreamed of having a creepy bar setup in your home. If so, the “Coffin Bar /with weird skeleton” is available. The skeleton is removable and the wooden stand is sturdy enough so that you can crawl inside yourself. But that’s just one of the 10 Craziest Craigslist Dallas Ads at Housely. | ||||||||
| Posted: 20 Jul 2016 07:00 AM PDT This is Perch Light, a lamp series by Umat Yamac, a furnishings designer and architect in London. They're made of paper folded to look like origami birds. The birds are balanced on perches that are either attached to a wall or a floor stand.
They rock back and forth with the touch of a finger. Yamac also makes them available as chandeliers, which looks like flocks of birds. -via Colossal | ||||||||
| Boomer The Bengal Cat Shows Off His Skateboarding Skills Posted: 20 Jul 2016 05:59 AM PDT We've all seen dogs who are really good skaters, but as it turns out cats are totally rad thrashers too, and they were either too lazy or too cool to show off their skills for the sake of human amusement. But in this video Boomer the Bengal finally relents and shows off his sk8 or die side while his famous skater sister Didga, as well as a few dumbfounded dogs, cheer him on. Boomer is definitely the laid back beach cruiser type, and unlike those easily sidetracked canines he looks like he'd be happy to push that board around all day long! -Via Laughing Squid See more videos of Boomer and his sister Didga. |
Cassidy also writes that women in the Hopi Native American tribe were encouraged to snack on weasels. They hoped the fetus would absorb the weasel’s skill of digging its way out of holes. Other women were told to eat eels to make the birth canal slippery.
The above article by A.J. Jacobs is reprinted with permission from the July-August 2015 issue of mental_floss magazine.
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