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2020/08/24

Neatorama

Neatorama

When You Don’t Want Your Son To Be In Your Photo Op

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 08:58 PM PDT

Paul's mother was rather dolled up for a rare night out. As this kind of thing happens only rarely, his dad did not waste any time and immediately prepared the camera for his mother. Paul's younger brother, however, is in the way of her shot, and she didn't want anyone to ruin her photo op. And so, she tried to put her son away from the frame, resulting in this awkward shot.

Image via Awkward Family Photos

Is Russell Crowe’s Singing In Les Miserables Underrated?

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 08:58 PM PDT

If you're familiar with the Les Miserables musical, then you've probably caught wind of fans who don't like Russell Crowe's portrayal of Inspector Javert in the movie adaptation. His portrayal was so poorly received that he had to defend his singing chops on social media. I'm not gonna lie, watching the musical and then watching the movie made me dislike Crowe's singing. With the movie adaptation hitting Netflix soon, more people will have a chance to share their opinions, as Polygon details: 

Crowe is admittedly a strange choice to star in a musical. His voice is a little gruff, rather than clarion in the way that's generally expected on Broadway. Listening to previous well-known Javerts — Roger Allam, Terrence Mann, Philip Quast, Norm Lewis — makes that distinction clear. Their voices are clearly distinguishable from each other, but all of them possess a broad, open quality, unburdened by the gravelliness of Crowe's voice.
intimidating more because he's a big guy with rough edges, and less because he possesses the kind of laser precision that Mann brings to the part. It makes Javert's eventual crisis and breakdown particularly compelling. Crowe acquits himself best in "Javert's Suicide," as the tremulous quality of his voice when he's pushed to the edges of his range works in harmony with his character's uncertainty — and to his credit, he nails his high notes.
That's the quality I find most crucial to judging Crowe's performance as commendable: He hits all his notes at the right times. 

Image via Polygon 

Neo Takes the Blue Pill

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 08:58 PM PDT



In every life there's a point where the road forks, and you must choose which way to go, which affects everything that comes after. In the movie The Matrix, the protagonist Neo takes the red pill and goes down the rabbit hole. But what if he didn't? What if he had chosen the blue pill instead (in this case, it's not Viagra)? VFX creator Chris Ume takes the road not traveled, and the story become an entirely different movie, with the help of deep fake technology. Still, one thing revealed is that it takes more than just a face alone to make Keanu Reeves. -via Digg

Why We Should Teach Kids Grammar

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 08:58 PM PDT

Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of the best short stories that a child can read. A child reading this doesn't just learn some numbers and the days of the week. He also learns something that he might benefit from for the rest of his life — the mastery of constructing colorful sentences.

So, here's the whole point of knowing how to grammar: we can shape it to express precise meaning.
A child with a broad repertoire of grammatical knowledge can skilfully choose how to phrase what they want to say. It is useful to know how adverbial phrases (such as "with its legs") add specific detail to verbs to show when, where, how, or why ("the caterpillar felt the leaf with its legs"), or how repeated clause structures attract attention to themselves.

Brett Healy gives us tips on how to teach grammar to our children. See his tips over at The Conversation.

(Image Credit: PDPics/ Pixabay)

Can We Stop Craving Certain Foods?

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 08:58 PM PDT

We've all experienced just minding our own business, when suddenly, we get this urge to eat a certain food.

A food craving can be described as an intense desire for a specific food, and this desire can seem uncontrollable at times. The person experiencing the craving may be left feeling unsatisfied until they experience that particular food or taste.

Is there a way to stop this desire? It seems there is, but it involves switching off some connections in our brains.

This could be groundbreaking research in terms of advancing the treatments of certain eating disorders.

More details about this over at Big Think.

(Image Credit: stevepb/ Pixabay)

Firefighters Rescue Cop Who Accidentally Cuffed Himself

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 08:58 PM PDT

Northampton, England — Police Sergeant Scott Renwick's day wasn't off to a great start when he accidentally bound himself with his own handcuffs. Thankfully, the Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service were quick to respond, using metal cutters to break the cuffs and free Renwick.

"Well that wasn't a good start to the day. Thanks to @northantsfire for cutting me out of some broken cuffs. #NotFunny. I would have laughed too!!" Renwick tweeted.

It's funny and amazing at the same time when two everyday heroes help each other, even in little moments like this one. Though I really wonder how the sergeant got himself into that situation.

(Image Credit: @CoreNorpol/ Twitter)

Lego Braille Bricks For Children

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 02:34 PM PDT

Lego bricks are now more accessible to children with vision impairment! Lego's new collection, Braille Bricks, are designed to help kids with vision problems to develop new skills and learn the Braille writing system. The special bricks are now available in Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, UK and the USA. The company aims to launch them in more countries by early 2021, as IGN details: 

LEGO plans to account for "eleven languages across twenty countries" by early 2021 and has prepared a website full of suggested activities for how children and educators can use LEGO Braille Bricks to learn the writing system.
Each toolkit will have "300+ LEGO Braille Bricks covering the full alphabet in the chosen language, numbers 0-9, and select mathematical symbols and punctuation marks." The famous LEGO studs have been moulded so that they correspond to the Braille alphabet, with the appropriate letters and symbols marked on the bricks so that they can be used in collaboration with sighted players as well.
LEGO Braille Bricks toolkits will be distributed for free to "select institutions, schools and services catering to the education of children with visual impairment" as they roll out around the world in the coming months.

image via IGN

How “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” Saved <i>Dirty Dancing</i>

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 02:34 PM PDT


Franke Previte had some success with his band Franke and the Knockouts in the early 1980s. By 1986, he was writing songs and selling cars on the side. Then Jimmy Ienner contacted him about writing a song for a movie then in production called Dirty Dancing. The commission had to be quick and exactly right, as the film was almost finished shooting, and they still didn't have a song for the final scene. In fact, writer-producer Eleanor Bergstein was terrified about having to shoot the most important dance of the movie without a song.
Though Previte hadn't talked to Ienner in two years, the former head of Millenium Records was suddenly in his ear with a way back into the industry. "He goes, I've got this little movie, I want you to think about writing a song for it," Previte recalls. Though he thought the offer was a dead end, Ienner insisted. "Make time, this is going to change your life." When Previte heard the movie's title, Ienner reassured him of the movie's credentials, gave him a general description of the plot, and explained the parameters: The song needed to fill seven minutes and be ready in two weeks. "I'm like, Oh my god, I've got to write 'MacArthur Park,'" Previte says.

But with just $100 in his bank account, Previte had nothing to lose. He called John DeNicola, a musician he'd written with before, and asked him to compose a backtrack. Previte explained the movie ("Baby meets Johnny in the Catskills") and offered some structural notes: The chorus would begin at half-speed, he told DeNicola, and the verses would switch to double-time to become an upbeat dance tune. With those details, DeNicola called up Donald Markowitz for assistance. The two had collaborated before, and Markowitz was one of the few people he knew who had an eight-track sequencing machine. Inside his one-bedroom Upper West Side apartment, Markowitz took DeNicola's notes and "wrote the music to it in 20 minutes," Markowitz says. The next day, theybegan to tweak and record. "We went in there with a drum machine and bass guitar and a couple of keyboards [and] pounded out some music," DeNicola says.
Previte did both vocal parts for the song "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" so the actors and dancers could complete the film, but Bergstein wanted singers from the 1960s to sing the 1980s song in the final edit. Read the complete story of how the movie and the song came together at The Ringer. -viaDigg

A Simple Way To Save Cows From Predator Attacks

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 02:31 PM PDT

Farmers in Botswana are getting frustrated because their cows are being killed and feasted on by predators in the area, like lions and leopards. Thankfully, we humans know a thing or two about these animals — that they are ambush predators who love to sneak up on their prey and avoid being detected. With that in mind, scientists attempted to use this knowledge to give the cows a better chance of staying alive.

It involves painting a pair of eyes on the cows' rear ends.
[...]
Incredibly, none of the cows with the eyes were killed by predators.

Knowledge is power, indeed.

More details about this study over at Mental Floss.

(Image Credit: wernerdetjen/ Pixabay)

The Cats of the New York Post Office

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 02:24 PM PDT

At the turn of the 20th century, the New York Post Office employed dozens of cats, which had the duty to control the rodent population, and in return received one meal a day from George Cook. Cook, who had brought the first cat to the post office, was allocated $5 a month in federal funds -from taxpayers- to provide for the cats. He thought the compensation was a bit stingy, but a well-fed cat doesn't hunt rats as well as a hungry cat.

The basement offered numerous patrol and napping posts for the cats, including 700 closets where the employees stored their street clothes and a large storage area for all the U.S. mail bags not in use. Each patrol cat had a favorite spot to sit for hours and wait for a rat to pass by.

Hard-working cats that went above and beyond the call of duty could be promoted to the Registry Division on the top floor of the building. Registered mail required extra care to safeguard it, and all persons handling this mail had to account for it as it passed through their hands along its route. The postal cats had to be extra diligent in their rat-catching efforts to protect this valuable class of mail.

George said he used what he called "a two-platoon system" in order to ensure there were always enough cats on duty at one time to catch the rats and mice. He said he set up this system one day when he didn't have enough cats on reserve to handle a massive rat attack. Apparently a cheese house had mailed samples of its most powerful Limburger cheese, and the mail bags were attacked by the rats. A riot ensued, and there were not enough cats on duty to arrest all of the perpetrators.

The population of postal cats waxed as they attracted other cats and had kittens. It waned as the SPCA conducted occasional raids to carry excess cats off for euthanasia. By 1910, there were around 200 cats on the USPS payroll. Read about the postal cats and their various shenanigans at The Hatching Cat.

The History Of The Asthma Inhaler

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 09:39 AM PDT

The tools and technology that help us today didn't just come out of nowhere- it has to start from, well, somewhere. Someone would have a problem that needs to be solved, and people then start finding ways to solve that problem through research and development. This was the case for the asthma inhaler. Pharmacologist George L. Maison was asked by her daughter why her medicine for asthma wasn't available in a spray can. Maison, as the president of Riker Laboratories, assigned chemist Irving Porush to try and create a medicine that would be available in a spray-like can, as The Smithsonian details: 

At the time, Riker was owned by Rexall Drugs, which did indeed manufacture hairspray. Borrowing expertise on propellants and aerosols from the cosmetics technicians down the hall, and using a recently patented metering valve capable of delivering precise amounts of atomized liquid, Porush created the first metered-dose inhaler (MDI) in just two months. By March 1956, the Food and Drug Administration had approved two new aerosol drugs for asthma, as well as Porush's device for delivering them.
"It was a game changer," says Stephen Stein, a scientist at Kindeva Drug Delivery (a descendant of Riker Labs) and co-author of a recent history of therapeutic aerosols.
Today, sales of pharmaceutical inhalers exceed $36 billion globally each year, and the device has puffed its way into medical history, improving the lives of millions: More than 2,000 people around the world use one every second.

Image via The Smithsonian

Beautiful Landscapes Sewn Through Embroidery

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 09:38 AM PDT

UK-based artist Sew Beautiful's attention to detail and talent can be seen through her embroidery. The artist creates breathtaking landscapes using only needle and thread. From stunning flower fields, waterfalls, and forests, her picturesque artworks are marvels to look at! You can really tell that she spent a long time on these pieces.

image via Bored Panda

Foam Furniture

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 09:38 AM PDT

Would you place your plates and glasses in some squishy shelves? These foam shelves might look supple at first glance, but they can store objects as well as the regular ones. Dutch designer Dewi van de Klomp used foam rubber for his Soft Cabinets, a project that uses various materials found around the house that can be repurposed. Dezeen has more details: 

Drawn to the unique texture, colour and shape of the foam, van de Klomp started to experiment with using it to make a series of objects in an attempt to show the material's "poetic side".
"The foam is a relatively overlooked material even though everybody knows it," said the designer. "With the soft cabinets I aim to increase its perceived value."
The foam furniture collection comprises a series of shelves in different shapes and sizes that take on new forms depending on their contents, bending and warping as books, magazines, plates or glasses are slotted inside.
While some sit flush to the ground, others stand on legs that have been slid over a metal frame attached to the wall that the cabinet is placed up against.
Some of the shelves are held in place on the wall by a series of "pins" within the cut-outs in the foam, while others are left to lean on their sides. The more objects placed inside the shelves, the more they sag.

Image via Dezeen

This Is Not Your Ordinary Canister

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 09:38 AM PDT

Well, these gas canisters do store alcohol, just a different kind. A number of artists on Etsy are repurposing jerry cans as alcohol cabinets. Some of these mini-bars have wooden dividers or elastic straps to keep your drinks organized. Now you can store your favorite drinks (and some glasses too)! 

image via The Awesomer 

A Discovery Was Made After A Cliff Collapsed In The Grand Canyon!

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 06:31 AM PDT

The oldest vertebrate tracks were discovered in the Grand Canyon after a cliff collapsed in the park. The fossil footprints were about 313 million years old. The footprints were hidden in plain sight until geology professor Allan Krill noticed them during a hike, as News Observer detailed: 

"These are by far the oldest vertebrate tracks in Grand Canyon, which is known for its abundant fossil tracks" Stephen Rowland, a paleontologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said in the news release. "More significantly, they are among the oldest tracks on Earth of shelled-egg-laying animals, such as reptiles, and the earliest evidence of vertebrate animals walking in sand dunes."
Researchers said the footprints show two separate animals passing on the slope of a sand dune, which is significant because of the "distinct arrangement of footprints."

Image via wikimedia commons
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