Sponsor

2016/07/22

Neatorama

Neatorama

Storytime with Abraham Lincoln

Posted: 22 Jul 2016 04:59 AM PDT

The following article is from the book Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Nature Calls.

These true accounts of President Lincoln’s animal encounters show that the Great Emancipator’s compassion wasn’t limited to humankind.

LITTLE ABE AND THE WILD TURKEY

Lincoln learned at seven years old that he was different when it came to animals. Most boys his age didn’t think twice about hunting wild game during the frontier days of the early 19th century. But one day, young Abraham Lincoln shot a turkey on his family’s farm. According to biographer Thomas Keneally, “The experience of destroying animal life, of seeing the gush of blood, repelled him, and he would never become the dead-eye frontier marksman of American myth.”

WHAT THE SHELL?

When Lincoln was a teenager in the 1820s, a common pastime among his classmates was to catch terrapins (freshwater turtles) and then turn them over on their backs to watch them try to right themselves— usually unsuccessfully. Lincoln would have no part of such games. And when those games took a more sinister turn, the teen refused to stand idly by. This story comes from the 1909 book The Heart of Lincoln, by Wayne Whipple:

One day Abe Lincoln came and caught a group of mischievous boys putting live coals on a poor mud-turtle’s back. The lads, and several girl friends, laughed to see the turtle moving slowly and aimlessly about in its surprise and misery. When Abe saw what was going on he dashed into the group in a frenzy of wrath, snatched the shingle from the ringleader’s hand, dashed the burning coals off the poor turtle’s back, then began beating the boys with the thin board. When he had scattered them right and left, according to one of the girls who witnessed the sudden scene, “He preached against such cruelty” and, with angry tears in his deep, gray eyes, told the snickering offenders that a terrapin’s or “an ant’s life is as sweet to it as ours is to us.”

FEATHERED FRIENDS

This anecdote comes from Lincoln’s friend Joshua F. Speed, who was traveling with the future president in 1839:

We were riding along a country road, two and two together, some distance apart, Lincoln and Jon. J. Hardin being behind. We were passing through a thicket of wild plum and crab-apple trees, where we stopped to water our horses. After waiting some time, Hardin came up and we asked him where Lincoln was. “Oh,” said he, “when I saw him last” (there had been a severe wind storm), “he had caught two little birds in his hand, which the wind had blown from their nest, and he was hunting for the nest.” Hardin left Lincoln before he found it. He finally found the nest, and placed the birds, to use his own words, “in the home provided for them by their mother.” When Lincoln caught up to the party they laughed at him. Said he, earnestly, “I could not have slept tonight if I had not given those two little birds to their mother.”

THE GOAT KEEPER

Lincoln’s White House years were mired by family tragedy and the nation in turmoil. His menagerie of animals helped keep him grounded during those troubled times. The Lincolns owned dogs, cats, rabbits, and turkeys. But the president had a special fondness for his two pet goats, Nanny and Nanko. The First Lady’s seamstress, a former slave named Elizabeth Keckley, recounted this story in her 1868 book, Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House:

One Saturday afternoon I went to the White House to dress Mrs. Lincoln. I had nearly completed my task when the President came in. It was a bright day, and walking to the window, he looked down into the yard, smiled, and, turning to me, asked: “Madam Elizabeth, you are fond of pets, are you not?”

“O yes, sir,” I answered.

“Well, come here and look at my two goats. I believe they are the kindest and best goats in the world. See how they sniff the clear air, and skip and play in the sunshine. Whew! What a jump,” he exclaimed as one of the goats made a lofty spring. “Madam Elizabeth, did you ever before see such an active goat?” Musing a moment, he continued: “He feeds on my bounty, and jumps with joy. Do you think we could call him a bounty-jumper? But I flatter the bounty-jumper [men who enlisted in the Union or Confederate armies during the Civil War just to collect the $ 300 incentive offered to new recruits; then they’d desert]. My goat is far above him. I would rather wear the goat’s horns and hairy coat through life, than demean myself to the level of the man who plunders the national treasury in the name of patriotism.”

THE CAT’S MEOW

This final— and perhaps most touching— account of the 16th president’s love of the animal kingdom is retold here in Carl Sandburg’s 1939 book Abraham Lincoln: The War Years:

Near the end of the Civil War, Abraham and his family had been invited to visit General Ulysses S. Grant’s headquarters at City Point, Virginia. The trip took place in late March of 1865 about three weeks before the assassination. During his visit to City Point, the president happened to be in the telegraph hut on the day that Grant’s army began the final advance of the Civil War. In the hut the president came upon three tiny kittens. They appeared to be lost and were wandering around and meowing.

Abraham picked up one of the kittens and asked, “Where is your mother?” A person standing nearby said, “The mother is dead.” The president continued to pet the little kitten and said, “Then she can’t grieve as many a poor mother is grieving for a son lost in battle.” Abraham picked up the other two kittens and now had all three in his lap. He stroked their fur and quietly told them, “Kitties, thank God you are cats, and can’t understand this terrible strife that is going on.” The Chief Executive continued, “Poor little creatures, don’t cry; you’ll be taken good care of.” He looked toward Colonel Bowers of Grant’s staff and said, “Colonel, I hope you will see that these poor little motherless waifs are given plenty of milk and treated kindly.” Bowers promised that he would tell the cook to take good care of them. Colonel Horace Porter watched the president and recalled, “He would wipe their eyes tenderly with his handkerchief, stroke their smooth coats, and listen to them purring their gratitude to him.”

_______________________________

The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Nature Calls. From hornywinks to Dracula orchids, from alluvium to zymogen, Uncle John is embarking on a back–country safari to track down the wackiest, weirdest, silliest, and most amazing stories about the natural world.

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!

Dr. Robotnik, the God of Dance

Posted: 22 Jul 2016 04:00 AM PDT

(YouTube link)

Rah Rah Rasputin! Lover of the Russian Queen! Nathan Barnatt (previously at Neatorama) does the Dr. Robotnik dance for our pleasure, with a musical accompaniment that’s an improvement over the original video. The music is “Rasputin” by Boney M. (via Metafilter)

"I've Got Your Nose!"

Posted: 22 Jul 2016 01:59 AM PDT

(Infinite Monkey Business/Demitrios Haldes)

And if you want it back, you'll have to pay. Leave $50,000 in unmarked, non-sequential $100 bills by the potty at naptime. And if you go to Mommy or the police, you'll never see the nose again.

-via Tastefully Offensive

The Pizza Equation

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:59 PM PDT

We know that pie are square, and that’s very important when you’re talking about pizza pie, which is not square. How do you get the most pizza for your dollar? By doing the math.  

(YouTube link) 

Yes, you’ll save money by buying a larger pizza, but there are a few other things to consider, as our friends at Uproxx point out.

There are a couple downsides that the video fails to mention. Because when you’re feeding 20 people one pizza, you have to pick one flavor to satisfy everyone. Also, one pizza means you can’t cut the pizza into those satisfying wedges. (Well, you could, but they’d be thin, and you’d look cheap.)

Also, there’s no reason to buy more pizza than you need, unless you’re willing to eat leftovers for a while. But if you are, the extra slices won’t cost you all that much. Just remember to refrigerate it.

Cats Cats Cats - Stare Into The Face Of Feline Madness

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 10:00 PM PDT


Cats Cats Cats by Tobe Fonseca

Some people can't help but be obsessed with cats, and then they surround themselves with feline iconography and the obsession becomes inescapable. They put up hang in there cat posters, buy plush cats and statues so they can properly worship the cat, and some even turn their house into a home for wayward kittehs.

If you're one of the cat obsessed then you're probably constantly on the lookout for clothing featuring cat-based designs, and do we have a doozy for you! This Cats Cats Cats t-shirt by Tobe Fonseca is like a wireframe map of what's on your mind 24 hours a day, so now you can share your feline vision with the world!

Visit Tobe Fonseca's Facebook fan page, official website and Tumblr, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more ridiculously cool designs:

I love catsListening to your heart I just want to drink coffee create stuff and sleepTreasure Map

View more designs by Tobe Fonseca | 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!

Champion Protest Signs

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 09:59 PM PDT

These three signs take the prize among the many protest signs outside the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. But that’s just my opinion: Buzzfeed has a roundup of clever, goofy, and nonsensical protest signs spotted among the serious opinions on display.

"Smart Stitches" Send Doctors Diagnostic Information

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 09:00 PM PDT

(Unrelated photo by waferboard)

In the future, sutures won't just hold pieces of your body together. They'll also monitor your healing and send information to your doctor.

Researchers at Tufts University have developed sensors that fit into durable threads. These can wirelessly transmit data to outside devices. A press release from Tufts explains:

The researchers used a variety of conductive threads that were dipped in physical and chemical sensing compounds and connected to wireless electronic circuitry to create a flexible platform that they sutured into tissue in rats as well as in vitro. The threads collected data on tissue health (e.g. pressure, stress, strain and temperature), pH and glucose levels that can be used to determine such things as how a wound is healing, whether infection is emerging, or whether the body’s chemistry is out of balance. The results were transmitted wirelessly to a cell phone and computer. […]

“The ability to suture a thread-based diagnostic device intimately in a tissue or organ environment in three dimensions adds a unique feature that is not available with other flexible diagnostic platforms,” said Sameer Sonkusale, Ph.D., corresponding author on the paper and director of the interdisciplinary Nano Lab in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tufts School of Engineering. “We think thread-based devices could potentially be used as smart sutures for surgical implants, smart bandages to monitor wound healing, or integrated with textile or fabric as personalized health monitors and point-of-care diagnostics.”

-via Lawrence E. Forbes

Modern Superpowers

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 08:00 PM PDT

What ability will makes a special person stand out above the crowd in the modern world? Restraint! The ability to know when enough is enough is a real rarity. Restraint Man is the hero we need, if not the hero we deserve. This is the latest from Chris Hallbeck at Maximumble.

This Is What the Human Body Would Look Like if It Evolved to Survive Car Crashes

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 06:59 PM PDT

(Photo: Transport Accident Commision of Victoria)

If, during the course of human development, the ability to survive a car crash would be a major evolutionary advantage, the human body might look like this guy. His name is Graham, and he's a sculpture made by the Transport Accident Commission of Victoria, Australia.

The agency is using Graham to express the importance of car safety. A normal human body can't shrug off a major collision. Graham, however, could do pretty well. The Guardian describes him:

He has no neck, meaning he cannot break it; a flat, fatty face to protect the nose and ears; airbags in between each rib; and thicker and tougher skin. His knees bend in all directions. […]

The commission says Graham is informed by “the science of human vulnerability” – not-quite-living proof of how susceptible we are to injury.

You can see a 360º, interactive presentation of Graham here (auto-start audio).

-via Gizmodo

The 2016 Chap Olympics

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 06:00 PM PDT

The annual Chap Olympiad is “a celebration of Britain’s sporting ineptitude,” according to the event's website. The games took place last week, and are nothing at all like the Olympics. The events include Not Playing Tennis (pictured), the Corby Trouser Press Challenge, Cycling and Drinking Tea, Butler Baiting, Swooning, and Moustache Wrestling, among others. See pictures from this year’s Chap Olympics at Bloomberg. -via the Presurfer

(Image credit: Tom Hall)

The Last VCRs Will Be Made This Month

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 05:00 PM PDT


(Photo: DeeperThought)

It was once a futuristic symbol of entertainment. Now it's an obsolete relic from the past. DVD players and digital recording and playback devices have replaced the old VCR console. Now that machine has reached its end. Funai, the last manufacturer of video cassette recorders, is ending production this month. Popular Mechanics reports:

The reasons for Funai's halting VCR production aren't surprising: they've cited declining sales and difficulty finding parts, which translates to "nobody's buying them anymore." Just because nobody's buying doesn't mean that nobody's using them, of course. VCRs and VHS tapes have garnered a cult fan base, with people coming to appreciate the lack of sharpness in quality as a type of warmth, or nostalgia. This has inspired a trend of appreciation towards older formats. Indeed, as the VCR ends its initial run, Kodak is looking to revitalize the Super 8 under the tagline "Analog Renaissance." So if you're going to miss the VCR, just wait 20 years.

-via Glenn Reynolds

Birds Demonstrate How to Dance to EDM

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 04:00 PM PDT

There are more kinds of electronic Dance Music (EDM) than we can keep up with. Using various YouTube videos, several different kinds of birds show us the proper dances for each.

(YouTube link)

These birds can dance like nobody's business! Here’s part two of the demonstration.

(YouTube link)

You may have noticed that the music here is not original to the videos, because we’ve seen some of these birds dancing before. You find a list of the original videos and music tracks at the YouTube pages. -via Laughing Squid

Vintage Photos Of Times Square At Its Lowest Point

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 03:00 PM PDT

Decades before Times Square became the family and tourist friendly destination it is today it was a cesspool of depravity and crime.

And while kooks like the Elmo mascot are still making the place feel a bit scummy it's now so clean you can eat near it.

But back in the 70s and 80s Times Square was full of peep shows, porno theaters and prostitutes, and the police turned a blind eye to much of the depraved action going down on the block.

Or maybe they were just too busy busting other types of criminals, because by 1984 over 2,000 crimes were being committed in the one-block radius of Times Square every year.

And if that weren't bad enough, the Square was also full of another group of people who really got on everyone's nerves- Hare Krishnas.

See 27 Pictures Of Times Square At Its Lowest here (NSFW)

Simon's Cat Logic: How Do Cats Stay So Clean?

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 02:00 PM PDT

Simon Tofield, the animator behind the Simon’s Cat videos, talks to cat expert Nicky Trevorrow about cats’ grooming habits. They lick themselves all the time, but they hate to take a bath. What’s the deal?

(YouTube link)

After the lesson in cat grooming, we get the Simon’s Cat cartoon called Pawtrait. -via Tastefully Offensive

Construction Workers Plays "Where's Waldo?" with Kids at Neighboring Hospital

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 01:00 PM PDT

(Photo: Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune)

This is Jason Haney, a construction manager working on a project for Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana. He and his co-workers like to entertain the kids who look outside their windows. Last winter, they built a snowman. More recently, they decided to make a Waldo figure from the Where's Waldo? books.

Haney made the 8-foot tall figure from plywood and he and his daughter painted it. Haney and his co-workers hide it in the framework of the new building under construction until a kid spots it. Then they move Waldo somewhere else and start the game over.

(Photo: Hedi Prescott/Beacon Health System)

The South Bend Tribune reports that kids love it:

Arrihanna Williams, 7, and another child enjoyed watching as the crane above the hospital moved a big load of materials. When asked, Arrihanna was quick to point out where Waldo was standing from the playroom window.

Down the hall, 9-year-old Neveah Garza was in contact isolation and unable to leave her room. But her window overlooked the construction site and she enjoyed watching the men at work.

“Poor guys, they have to work in the sun,” she said.

In the past, she’s hunted for Waldo in library books and on an online site, she said, explaining how that worked. But it was a bit of a challenge to find the character at the building site.

“Mom found him first,” she said, pointing down at the site. “See he’s down there, by that fan thingy.”

-via Nerd Approved

Copperpool - Bad Dogpool! No Biscuit For You!

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 12:00 PM PDT


Copperpool by Alberto Arni

When you're out in the sun you've gotta keep your buns cool, man, so take it from your buddy DP and slap some sunscreen on yo' cheeks! Wade may have been made to look hideous during the experiment that gave him his powers, but that doesn't mean he wants a sunburn making him gross lookign and all peely. Plus, there's this thing called skin cancer that can really knock you dead, so whether you're chillin' by the pool or going Beach Blanket Blammo with your gun club make sure you slather on that sunscreen so you don't get fried chimichanga style!

Summer is here, so bring home this totally cool Copperpool t-shirt by Alberto Arni and soak up them rays in style!

Visit Alberto Arni's Facebook fan page, Tumblr and Twitter, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more marvelously geeky designs:

I (Turtle) NYTriple Beagle PortraitHey Listen!Wrong Pipe

View more designs by Alberto Arni | 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!

23 Haunted College Campuses

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:59 AM PDT

St. Joseph's Hall still stands bright even with all of the clouds it's the calm before the storm

A photo posted by Chestnut Hill College (@chestnut_hill_college) on Jun 8, 2016 at 8:45am PDT

Many colleges have large, old, stone buildings that have been there for a long time -long enough to be the site of some unsavory events, like murder, war, slavery, suicide, imprisonment, mental illness, abandonment, and more. Do these events leave their imprint on the places they happen? Some folks think so. Or it may be that the haunting stories are passed down from class to class and prompt people to see things that aren’t there, because fear is contagious. If you know about the nun who leapt to her death from the roof, or the little girl who fell down the elevator shaft, or the founder who won’t leave the campus, you are primed to notice them returning to the scene. Buzzfeed compiled a list of 23 haunted campuses, using stories contributed by students and alumni.

This Former Monk Has Been Building His Own Cathedral For The Last 50 Years

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 11:00 AM PDT

The masons and builders who conceived of and constructed the most famous cathedrals in the world had a legion of workers helping them bring their blessed vision to life in a timely manner.

But former Trappist monk Justo Gallego Martinez has been building a cathedral by himself every day since 1963, even though he knows he won't be able to finish the building before he dies.

(YouTube Link)

This video by Great Big Story focuses on Justo Gallego Martinez and his holy mission to build a memorial cathedral to Our Lady of the Pillar on the plot of land he inherited near Madrid, Spain.

It's equal parts inspiring and heartwrenching, and you'll be amazed by what Justo has been able to accomplish with his own two hands while driven by faith.

-Via Laughing Squid

A Story of Two Belgian Brothers

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 09:59 AM PDT

 

Mourad Laachraoui is a student at Haute Ècole, the College for Business and Technology, in Brussels, Belgium. He is also the European taekwondo champion, and will compete as part of the Belgian national team at the Olympics in Rio next month. Laachraoui is used to press conferences and to addressing the public, but the Brussels airport bombing on March 22 was more than he could quickly digest and comment upon.

Mourad had been hoping to go to practice later that day, but at around midday that the next breaking news flashed onto his screen. One of the four bombers had been identified, it said. The man was 24 years old. Then Mourad read the name: Najim Laachraoui.

At that moment, there was a further explosion -- inside Mourad's head.

At first he didn't say anything to the other students. But they too had already read the alert. "Hey, Mourad," one of the students in the lab shouted. "He has your name -- is it a cousin perhaps?" It was intended as a joke.

Najim Laachraoui, the suicide bomber, was Mourad Laachraoui’s older brother. Najim left for Syria years ago, and Mourad had no idea he was back in Belgium until the bombing occurred. Read about the two brothers and how Mourad is dealing with the aftermath of the attack while he prepares for his Olympic competition, at Spiegel. -via Metafilter

How Dogs React To A Voice Actor Barking

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 08:59 AM PDT

Some voice actors are so good their mimicry abilities can fool anyone, even animals.

Rudi Rok is one of these incredibly gifted voice actors, and he's so good at barking, panting and other dog vocalizations he drives those poor poochies wild in this video by Jose Ahonen.

(YouTube Link)

It seems dogs who hear a perfect imitation of a dog bark start barking, I wonder what they're saying to Rudi...

-Via Dorkly

20 Things You Didn’t Know About San Francisco

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 08:00 AM PDT

Quick: what comes to mind when you think of San Francisco? High rent, the Gold Rush, earthquake, Harvey Milk… Alcatraz? There’s so much more to learn about the city, its history, geography, and culture. San Francisco is the birthplace of a lot of things, not all of them good.

Between 1900 and 1904, the city of San Francisco was the site for the first plague epidemic in the continental United States, which killed more than a hundred people in Chinatown because the Governor of California delayed taking action in order to avoid the economic consequences that would have come with a quarantine. As a result, some people speculate that this is how the bubonic plague managed to secure its first toehold in North America since it is capable of surviving in reservoir animals.

But then you have blue jeans, which almost makes up for the plague. Read 20 things that may surprise you about San Francisco at Housely. 

This Hospital Cabinet Is Designed to Protect Patients from Infections

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 06:59 AM PDT

What makes this rolling hospital bedside cabinet by Kinnier Dufort unique is the rounded edges and joints. There are fewer hidden crannies and junctions that are hard to clean. Hospital workers can disinfect every part of it easier than conventional bedside cabinets, making it more likely to free from infectious pathogens. You can photos of it at Core 77.

Studio Ghibli Explains Why Chihiro's Parents Turned Into Pigs In Spirited Away

Posted: 21 Jul 2016 05:59 AM PDT

Spirited Away is Japan's highest grossing film of all time, and even though the Japanese mythology themes aren't fully understood by most non-Japanese viewers the film is still a delight to watch.

But there's one scene even Japanese audiences wondered about- the scene where Chihiro's parents suddenly become pigs.

It was fairly easy to tell the scene was commenting on gluttony and/or greed, but Twitter user @0910noncha wanted to know for sure so she messaged Studio Ghibli- and they answered.

The studio sent her a two-page long reply, explaining that the pig scene is meant to represent “the greed that took place during the Japanese recession of the 80s”:

The letter also explained that the transformation was irreversible in order to reflect the nature of greed in the real world. The letter continued by saying that Chihiro knew that none of the pigs in the pen were her parents because her mindset had changed following her experiences in the underworld.

-Via Bored Panda
@

No comments:

Post a Comment

Keep a civil tongue.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Label Cloud

Technology (1464) News (793) Military (646) Microsoft (542) Business (487) Software (394) Developer (382) Music (360) Books (357) Audio (316) Government (308) Security (300) Love (262) Apple (242) Storage (236) Dungeons and Dragons (228) Funny (209) Google (194) Cooking (187) Yahoo (186) Mobile (179) Adobe (177) Wishlist (159) AMD (155) Education (151) Drugs (145) Astrology (139) Local (137) Art (134) Investing (127) Shopping (124) Hardware (120) Movies (119) Sports (109) Neatorama (94) Blogger (93) Christian (67) Mozilla (61) Dictionary (59) Science (59) Entertainment (50) Jewelry (50) Pharmacy (50) Weather (48) Video Games (44) Television (36) VoIP (25) meta (23) Holidays (14)

Popular Posts (Last 7 Days)