Neatorama

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• 10 Secrets of the White House Calligraphers
• Jack Russell Terriers vs. Garden Hose
• How an L.A. Printer Kept the Art of the Album Cover Alive
• The People Who Slowly Turn to Bone
• Nyarlathotep - Can I Play With Crawling Chaos?
• Guys Taste Test A $4 Burger And A $777 Burger To See How They Measure Up
• Priorities
• Meet The World's Tallest Teenager
• Animated Indiana Jones Fanfilm
• Debunking the Myth of the ‘Real’ Robinson Crusoe
• Photo Series Reveals How Our Facial Expressions Change When We Get Undressed
• Which Restroom?
• Life Hacks For Flaky People
• Tiny Lasagna
• The World's Strongest Cup of Coffee

10 Secrets of the White House Calligraphers Posted: 30 Sep 2016 04:00 AM PDT In 2013, pundits criticized the Obama administration for spending nearly $280,000 a year on three White House calligraphers. Here’s what you need to know about every art major’s dream job. 1. They’re a White House staple. Calligraphers have worked at the White House since John Adams started sending guests fancy dinner invites back in 1801. 2. They design everything! Proclamations, citations, military commissions, special announcements, menus, place cards, invitations, official greetings, and even signs for the White House vegetable garden. One day, a calligrapher might inscribe the name of the Presidential Medal of Freedom winner. The next, they might pen a menu for a visiting monarch. 3. Like other experienced civil employees, they get paid handsomely. The chief calligrapher makes $98,669. Considering that nearly every head of state in the world handles their artwork, we think it’s worth it. 4. Hand cramps can’t stop them. During Clinton’s tenure, the White House hosted more than 100,000 official guests. On a typical day, calligraphers may make hundreds of place cards just for meals. 5. November is the toughest month. That’s because the White House is prepping for an onslaught of holiday receptions. In 2013, calligraphers hand-addressed 10,000 envelopes for the season. 6. They prepare for emergencies. In case special guests appear for State dinners or official events unannounced, the administration keeps a calligrapher waiting in the wings. (You never know when you might need an emergency place card.) 7. The team does about 40 percent of its work by hand. The rest is done on the computer when tight deadlines demand it. 8. They stash an arsenal. Calligrapher Rick Muffler’s toolbox contained 28 pen holders, eight brushes, a bunch of nibs, and one hair dryer, which he used to make the ink dry faster. (Image credit: Luigi Crespo) 9. Which even includes a copier. It’d be impractical not to use one. After a calligrapher designs an invitation, for example, the design is sent to an engraver, who copies it. The copies return to the calligrapher, who grabs a pen and personalizes the invitation with the guest’s name, matching the original hand style. 10. The scripts are called “hands,” not fonts. Which, considering calligraphers are using their hands, makes sense. ________________________________ The article above appeared in the Scatterbrain section of the October 2015 issue of mental_floss magazine. It is reprinted here with permission. Don't forget to feed your brain by subscribing to the magazine and visiting mental_floss' extremely entertaining website and blog today for more!

Jack Russell Terriers vs. Garden Hose Posted: 30 Sep 2016 02:00 AM PDT (Facebook link) In this cute video from Mark Hughes, five Jack Russell terriers are getting their pool filled. One decides to show the garden hose who’s the boss, and shakes the poor hose by the neck. The hose continues to spew water, and the other four dogs chase after the water stream. By the time the hose is completely subdued, the whole backyard is wet! -via Tastefully Offensive

How an L.A. Printer Kept the Art of the Album Cover Alive Posted: 30 Sep 2016 12:00 AM PDT As music media became digital in the ‘80s with CDs, and later on with MP3s and now streaming, many audiophiles missed the rich analog sound of vinyl albums. Along the same route, the smaller media lost the visual art of the album jacket. There was less room for art, and forget liner notes. We missed those, too. That’s why there has been a resurgence on the old-fashioned vinyl record album in the last few years. And the  Stoughton Printing Company is ready to print new album covers, just as they have since 1964. Founded by Jack Stoughton, Sr. the company carries on in the 21st century under the direction of Clay Stoughton and his brother Jack Stoughton, Jr., who tells us about the early days of the business.   “The Old Style jackets—that’s our trademarked name—can be printed on a variety of papers, substrates of any sort, really.” Jack Jr. says. “It can be book cloth, paper, foil, lots of different things, which gives you the ability to create many types of looks. We have highly specialized machines that are strictly purposed to make the Old Style jackets, be it an Old Style single, an Old Style gatefold, a gatefold single, you name it.” If there’s a secret sauce to Stoughton, one of the ingredients is certainly its people, many of whom have been with the company for a long time, which means the institutional memory at Stoughton runs deep. “Some of our employees have been with us for decades,” Jack Jr. says. “They’ve seen it all.” Just as important is the fact that for every Led Zeppelin or Jack White, there have been countless other musicians of lesser acclaim who have turned to Stoughton to print their album art and design the packaging encasing their vinyl. “When we started out,” Jack Jr. says, “we appealed to independent labels and artists. That was our niche. We had one customer, way back when, who sold his car to help pay for his record pressing. We had printed his jackets, so he came out here on the bus from Hollywood to City of Industry, which was about 25 miles eastbound. He probably made five or six bus transfers to get here. All he wanted was one box of 100 jackets, which he was going to take to the record-pressing plant so they could stuff them with his records, which he wanted to sell at a show that night. The jackets were ready, so we drove him and the jackets to the record-pressing plant, waited for them to get stuffed, and then took him home. He called us the following Monday to say he had been able to sell around 240 records that night, which effectively paid for his entire project. I couldn’t tell you that young man’s name today, and I don’t even remember if he went on to have any hits. But that was the way my dad treated everybody. In part, it was because you never knew who was going to be the next million-seller, but it was also to honor the dreams independent artists brought to us.” Stoughton Printing Company is such a historic part of the record industry that the International Printing Museum is readying an exhibition called “The Music of the Presses: The Stoughton Printing Company Vinyl Jacket Collection” to open October first. Read about the history and the art of record jacket printing at Collectors Weekly.

The People Who Slowly Turn to Bone Posted: 29 Sep 2016 10:00 PM PDT Stone Man Syndrome is a very rare condition in which a person’s tissues turn to bone. Ratherm when the body tries to repair anything, it uses bone tissue, even when that's not appropriate. The disease so rare that even identifying it is difficult, much less getting funding for research into it. Some of the images in this video may be disturbing for sensitive souls.    (YouTube link) Simon Whistler of Today I Found Out tells us about fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP). Learn more about the genetic disease at the International FOP Association. -Thanks, Daven!

Nyarlathotep - Can I Play With Crawling Chaos? Posted: 29 Sep 2016 08:00 PM PDT Nyarlathotep by Azhmodai You know what they say- the harder a god's name is to pronounce the more messed up and wicked the god, which is why Nyarlathotep has such a fearsome reputation. But truth be told Nyarla isn't such a bad guy, he's just obsessed with heavy metal and monster movies, so he typically adopts a fearsome visage when paying a visit to the mortal realm. But believe me- compared to Great Old Ones like Cthulhu, or that oozing mass of carnivorous goo Shub-Niggurath, the Crawling Chaos isn't such a bad being after all! Wear your love of the creatures Lovecraft created on your chest with this Nyarlathotep t-shirt by Azhmodai, it's one tasty design that's sure to drive your fellow H.P. fans crazy with delight! Visit Azhmodai's Facebook fan page, then head over to his NeatoShop for more dark and geeky designs: Toxic Politics Eddie Scissorfingers Trainers Handbook Welcome to the Dungeon! View more designs by Azhmodai | More Horror 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!

Guys Taste Test A $4 Burger And A $777 Burger To See How They Measure Up Posted: 29 Sep 2016 08:00 PM PDT Foodies are paying a fortune these days for basic burgers they believe to be "gourmet" because they're made with upscale ingredients that make them worth the inflated price. But just because your $777 burger has lobster, foie gras and 100-year-old balsamic vinegar on it and comes with a bottle of Dom Perignon doesn't make it much better than an $18 burger. (YouTube Link) Keith and Steven from BuzzFeed Video taste tested a $4 burger from The Habit Burger Grill, an $18 burger from Gordon Ramsay's BURGR, and the ridiculously decadent $777 burger from Burger Brasserie, which they both agreed was an "experience" to eat. Surprisingly, the average price for a Burger Brasserie's burger is about $15, but seeing as how it's located in the Paris Las Vegas Hotel they're probably hoping high rollers will drop the dough just for the bragging rights. -Via BuzzFeed

Priorities Posted: 29 Sep 2016 06:00 PM PDT This is how I operate when I’ve got a feature article deadline looming. The more I think about it, the more I remember the email, the dishes, the garbage, the bill that needs to be paid, and the nap I really need. Comic artist Sarah Andersen knows she’s not the only one. If it weren't for the last minute, I'd never get anything done.

Meet The World's Tallest Teenager Posted: 29 Sep 2016 04:00 PM PDT Some kids don't get their growth spurts until high school, and a rare few don't have a growth spurt until college, but Broc Brown, the world's tallest teenager, was practically born taller than his peers. In kindergarten he was 5'2", he hit the six foot mark before he officially got his "growth spurt", and at age 19 he is currently 7'8" tall...and still growing. Broc has a genetic disorder called Sotos Syndrome, also known as cerebral gigantism, which causes "excessive physical growth" and may cause health issues such as hormonal imbalance, scoliosis and heart and kidney problems. But despite the chronic pain Broc feels he manages to keep a smile on his face and live like a normal teen, and doctors say Broc will probably live a long and healthy life despite his disorder. Here's hoping all your dreams come true, Broc! Read Meet the World's Tallest Teenager, Who's Growing Six Inches Per Year here

Animated Indiana Jones Fanfilm Posted: 29 Sep 2016 02:00 PM PDT Animator and lifelong Indiana Jones fan Patrick Schoenmaker produced an opening sequence for an Indiana Jones TV series. The only problem is that there is no animated Indiana Jones TV series. At least not yet. (YouTube link) Schoenmaker (previously at Neatorama) did some artwork for Lucasfilm to promote Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This animated sequence has been a side project of his ever since, and it’s finally been unveiled. He talked to Inverse about it. My main idea was not to make a trailer that would have just been an excuse to take some random scenes and edit them together to look cool. I wanted a story, but I didn’t have the time to make it a full short, so instead, I came up with something like the intro to the Batman animated series. It boiled down the feel and essence of any Batman story into a one-minute intro. It’s a great short film by itself because it makes you hungry for the episode, so I took that approach. Well, there he’s nailed the biggest flaw in the video: it’s too short. If Lucasfilm would just hire him, he could work on Indiana Jones full-time. -via Den of Geek

Debunking the Myth of the ‘Real’ Robinson Crusoe Posted: 29 Sep 2016 12:00 PM PDT Daniel Defoe published his book Robinson Crusoe in 1719, at a time when stories of shipwrecks, pirates, and castaways were hot, and there were plenty of narratives available. His book survived better than other accounts because it was particularly well-written and gripped the public’s imagination. And it was fiction, so therefore not constrained by actual events. After Defoe’s death, scholars pointed to the true story of pirate Alexander Selkirk as the main inspiration for Robinson Crusoe. But that’s not the whole story. According to Auburn University professor Paula Backscheider, there were other influences that can be traced directly to Defoe. Take Robert Knox, for example. After his shipwreck on Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, he was held captive for 20 years (closer to the amount of time that Crusoe spent on an island). “He started his own little corn business,” Backscheider says. “He even made little wool caps, and Defoe knew him personally.” This and other tales suggest that there were many people who influenced Defoe. Backscheider says Defoe scholars are tired of the assumption that Selkirk’s story was the inspiration for Crusoe, rather than just one of many survival narratives that Defoe knew about. When people bring it up to them, “we just giggle,” she says.    National Geographic explains several of the ways the tale of Robinson Crusoe differed from that of of Alexander Selkirk, and more about the other stories that were just as influential.

Photo Series Reveals How Our Facial Expressions Change When We Get Undressed Posted: 29 Sep 2016 10:00 AM PDT Societal standards state we must wear clothing when we're out in public, and this standard of decency has made some feel self conscious about their naked bodies, or at least when they're naked around other people. This nudity-related self-consciousness causes people to make certain facial expressions whenever they're naked around an unfamiliar person, expressions that sometimes include a nervous grin. Photographer Dylan Hamm reveals people's facial expressions before and after undressing in his series "Naked Faces", a side-by-side portrait series that challenges viewers to guess which one's the nudie pic. See "Naked Faces" Reveals How Someone's Expression Changes When Becoming Undressed here

Which Restroom? Posted: 29 Sep 2016 09:00 AM PDT The international symbols for restrooms in the UK can be confusing. Should he use the restroom for people wearing pants, or the one for people with one leg? Maybe he should get a kilt to be sure! This Vine is from Josh Sundquist, who is a master of amputee humor, as well as soccer and Halloween costumes. -via reddit

Life Hacks For Flaky People Posted: 29 Sep 2016 08:00 AM PDT Life hacks can help you improve your organizational skills and teach you easier ways to do things, but they can't turn a slacker or a flake into a punctual and reliable person. However, with a little social life hackery you can fool people into believing you're not flaky by making up totally believable excuses for your behavior.  Did you wake up late to meet your friends, who have been waiting over half an hour for you? Tell them you've been stuck in traffic and will be there in 5 and buy yourself more time! Even the flakiest flaker or slackiest slacker can benefit from learning these 6 life hacks illustrated by Nathan Yaffe, who proves life hacks don't have to involve making change. See 6 Life Hacks for Flaky People at CollegeHumor (Contains NSFW language)

Tiny Lasagna Posted: 29 Sep 2016 07:00 AM PDT Watch this guy, or his fingertips, prepare the tiniest lasagna you ever saw! He boils the pasta, browns the beef, grates and mixes the cheese, and then layers it all in a matchbox-sized baking pan. (YouTube link) The finished product is about one bite of lasagna for a human, but I bet it was one delicious bite. The video is from Jay Baron of Walking With Giants, a channel that has plenty of miniature cooking videos.  -via Metafilter

The World's Strongest Cup of Coffee Posted: 29 Sep 2016 06:00 AM PDT Some people can't wake up without a cup of coffee and for some people, a whole pot of coffee is neccessary. If you just can't get enough caffeine, you might want to head to The Viscous Cafe in Australia, where you can find the world's strongest cup of coffee. Just one mug of this strong brew is the equivalent of 80 regular cups of coffee. That means each cup contains 5 grams of caffeine, which considering that 18 is fatal for even a healthy adult means that just three cups would put you dangerously close to death. Via T+L

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