Oh god fantasy spiders!!!

I don't have much to say about this, other than the fact that it's awesome.

I just really want to meet the people who come up with these intelligent warnings.


http://www.theshiznit.co.uk/feature/stupidest-film-certificate-warnings.php


(On a side note, there are loads of fun things on this website, though it's a hell of a time-sucker. I also recommend http://www.theshiznit.co.uk/feature/10-credible-actors-who-took-on-incredibly-bad-movies.php )

Denim picnic blanket

This is a cute project for those who love arts or crafts, and are capable of quilting. Since I fail in the third area, I'd probably do a horrible job at this, but it looks pretty awesome.

I recommend that you make two blankets-- one for yourself, and one to send to me!


http://www.readymade.com/projects/denim_picnic_blanket

A guide to your pants-wearing status

Look down at your bottom half, ladies. What do you see?

Personally, I'm a jeans girl, all the way. And I haven't really seen too many horrible leggings-abuses in my time. However, until I see proof to convince me otherwise, I'm going to say that leggings should only be worn under other articles of clothing, such as skirts.

Here is a flow chart to help you determine whether you are wearing normal pants, or something more sinister.


http://www.buzzfeed.com/sly/am-i-wearing-pants

The President is folksy?

...interesting notion. But I guess it's true. American idealism is the reason why we still believe in the Old West, the American dream, apple pie, and so on.

But I guess times change?

Anyway, it's interesting to note that waving actually is a pretty weird practice, especially when having one's picture taken. In all honesty, I wonder about a LOT of the poses we assume and gestures we make when people are photographing us! Ahh, subconscious culture.


http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/02/president_obama_waving_grudgin.html

Making syrup from weeds?

I think many of us know that you can use dandelion leaves in salads or teas. But how about making syrup from the petals?

I'm almost curious to try this... although I'm sure that having culinary skills would help! Haha.


http://www.readymade.com/blog/food-and-entertaining/2011/05/25/reader_recipe_dandelion_syrup

Did the brick survive?

Yeeeah, so... I wouldn't recommend doing this. It's extremely dangerous, and I'm not sure if a recycling center would take the machine afterward...

...and I've gotta say that if I were there, I'd totally be chewing these people out...

But might as well enjoy it when someone else does it, right?



http://youtu.be/L4QmpyfS3fM

What year is it, Mr. President?

Hahaha. Okay, so on occasion we all forget the date, but for a guy who's supposed to be signing papers all the time... and given that it wasn't the DAY that he forgot...


http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/05/president_obama_has_no_idea_wh.html

A beautiful thought for you to find

Things like this make me happy. I love the notion of people leaving little pieces of happiness scattered around for others to find. And I do believe that everything happens for a reason, so I'd like to think that each person who finds one of these gifts needed it.


http://theblossomingthoughtproject.tumblr.com/



This is similar to a blog here that I've been following--


www.thingsweforget.blogspot.com

Proper spelling is sexy

WARNING: ADULT CONTENT!!!!!!

*Sigh* I guess this means I need to put that adult warning label on my blog now! Oh well.

I'm an English major and nut. Sooo, although I'm not a fan of most rap or hip hop (I don't even know the difference), I appreciated this music video.


http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6342590/sexy-spelling-song


That woman has her head in the right place! Hahaha.

Buddy Wakefield on convenience stores

Wow, I really need to listen to poetry more. Like, listen.

I'm a pretty visual person, so I enjoy sitting down with a book and reading it myself, pausing to absorb vibrant words and passages at my own pace. But, there is nothing like listening to a poet read his work aloud. Nothing like hearing where his or her voice rises or falls, to hear where this one individual felt the most emotion. I can read any line of poetry in a myriad of tones, and each twists the underlying meaning in a starkly different way.

And let us not forget the way it sucks you in, brings you into its alternate world.



http://youtu.be/ZZkofA_TWVw

The CDC believes in zombies!

Haha, okay, so maybe not. But, this is a creative way to get the attention of people who ordinarily wouldn't care about emergency preparedness.

I mean, who wants to hear about our impending doom unless you add a crazy twist like zombies?

(Does anybody have any idea where this whole zombie thing started, by the way?)


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110518/us_ac/8495307_cdc_recommends_preparing_for_all_disasters__even_zombies

The sounds are as old as language itself

Language may be more than 50,000 years old? And may still carry traces of its roots?? Eeeeeee!

Yeah, I be linguistic dork.

Cool article.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/science/15language.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage

Creating "happy"

As the description explains--

"'Happy' was the theme we were given by the organizers for this year's F5 Re:Play Fest, held in April in NYC, to create this edition's pieces, probably the hardest thing to convey in any artistic expression. After a good deal of introspection, and teaming up with awesome motion graphics artist Gerardo del Hierro, we decided that happy wasn't happy for Physalia unless pliers, microchips and a bit of soldering were involved, and with this idea we resolved to create the happiest machine Physalia has built to date."

Credits:

Direction: Physalia ( physaliastudio.com ) & Gerardo del Hierro ( grrddh.com/​ )
Music: Fernando Dominguez


http://vimeo.com/23155536


And yes, this made me ridiculously happy. I want one of these now. Or at the very least, a few bags of plastic fun house balls. Think I can find some on eBay?

Piano stairs!!!

I LOVE this so much. If only we could redesign stairways like this across the country, and hell, maybe even the world.

It's fun, it'll make you smile, and it'll help you get some exercise.


http://www.b3ta.com/links/Making_stairs_more_interesting


(And can you imagine how significantly we'd reduce power consumption if all escalators were shut down forever?)

Ballad of Timothy Geithner

Oooooh politics and money. What an ugly combo.

People need to watch stuff like this.



http://youtu.be/MAdJLLmpWBU

Can you hear me now?

Hahaha, I love it when people who talk loudly on their cell phones get what's coming to them.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/17/lakeysha-beard-kicked-off_n_863149.html


Don't forget to watch the video. It's amusing.

(Heh, and sorry for the title. It's pretty well-worn by now, I know.)

Cancer was cured in 2007?

To be perfectly honest, I believe it. Pharmaceutical companies are only interested in earning obscene amounts of money. Much of our society is built on the principle of curing, lessening, or merely covering up disease rather than preventing it.


http://hubpages.com/hub/Scientists_cure_cancer__but_no_one_takes_notice


I don't know how reliable Hub Pages is, but this article has also appeared on a University of Alberta webpage, which sounds valid enough.


http://www.dca.med.ualberta.ca/Home/Updates/

Norwegian Icebreaker heads up the Mississippi

(As the e-mail stated it...)


How's this for international cooperation!

Norwegian Icebreaker heads up the Mississippi River.

As you may have seen on the news it's been very cold in Iowa.

So cold, in fact, that the US Army Corp of Engineers has borrowed a visiting Norwegian Icebreaker to clear the Mississippi River for freighter traffic. The Icebreaker is starting near Davenport and working its way northward.


Here is a picture as the hard work of ice breaking begins. Impressive!





...








...giving you some scrolling space to add to the element of surprise...








...

What is Mommy selling?

The story isn't entirely clear, but basically, a girl in first or second grade gave her teacher this drawing.





Apparently, after the girl took it home with her, her mother sent her back with a note for the teacher:

Dear Ms. Davis,

I want to be perfectly clear on my child's homework illustration.
It is NOT of me on a dance pole on a stage in a strip joint surrounded by male customers with money.
I work at Home Depot and had commented to my daughter how much money we made in the recent snowstorm.

This drawing is of me selling a snow shovel.




...I love kids' artwork. XD

If 1984 came to Thanksgiving...

IMPORTANT NOTE FROM ME, THE BLOGGER:

Since I started this blog, I've been really considering how much politically-based stuff I wanted to post. I get plenty of interesting articles, videos, and editorials about political issues in e-mails and elsewhere. I myself am not very passionate about politics, and I dislike debates. HOWEVER, if I read or see something that sticks with me, I feel the need to pass it on merely as "food for thought." In other words, I do not wish to start any political discussions, nor am I pushing any beliefs that I may or may not have onto you. I'm just sharing. If you don't like what you see, please move on to the next post.

Thank you! :)






With due credit to George Orwell and '1984'/I do not know who wrote this, but it sure resonates!!!



“Winston, come into the dining room, it’s time to eat,” Julia yelled to her husband.

“In a minute, honey, it’s a tie score,” he answered. Actually Winston wasn’t very interested in the traditional holiday football game between Detroit and Washington. Ever since the government passed the Civility in Sports Statute of 2017, outlawing tackle football for its “unseemly violence” and the “bad example it sets for the rest of the world,” Winston was far less of a football fan than he used to be. Two-hand touch wasn’t nearly as exciting.

Yet it wasn’t the game that Winston was uninterested in. It was more the thought of eating another TofuTurkey. Even though it was the best type of Veggie Meat available after the government revised the American Anti-Obesity Act of 2018, adding fowl to the list of federally-forbidden foods, (which already included potatoes, cranberry sauce and mince-meat pie), it wasn’t anything like real turkey. And ever since the government officially changed the name of “Thanksgiving Day” to “A National Day of Atonement” in 2020, to officially acknowledge the Pilgrims’ historically brutal treatment of Native Americans, the holiday had lost a lot of its luster.

Eating in the dining room was also a bit daunting. The unearthly gleam of government-mandated fluorescent light bulbs made the Tofu Turkey look even weirder than it actually was, and the room was always cold. Ever since Congress passed the Power Conservation Act of 2016, mandating all thermostats—which were monitored and controlled by the electric company — be kept at 66 degrees, every room on the north side of the house was barely tolerable throughout the entire winter.

Still, it was good getting together with family. Or at least most of the family. Winston missed his mother, who passed on in October, when she had used up her legal allotment of live-saving medical treatment. He had had many heated conversations with the Regional Health Consortium, spawned when the private insurance market finally went bankrupt, and everyone was forced into the government health care program. And though he demanded she be kept on her treatment, it was a futile effort. “The RHC’s resources are limited,” explained the government bureaucrat Winston spoke with on the phone. “Your mother received all the benefits to which she was entitled. I’m sorry for your loss.”

Ed couldn’t make it either. He had forgotten to plug in his electric car last night, the only kind available after the Anti-Fossil Fuel Bill of 2021 outlawed the use of the combustion engines — for everyone but government officials. The fifty mile round trip was about ten miles too far, and Ed didn’t want to spend a frosty night on the road somewhere between here and there.

Thankfully, Winston’s brother, John, and his wife were flying in. Winston made sure that the dining room chairs had extra cushions for the occasion. No one complained more than John about the pain of sitting down so soon after the government - mandated cavity searches at airports, which severely aggravated his hemorrhoids.

Ever since a terrorist successfully smuggled a cavity bomb onto a jetliner, the TSA told Americans the added “inconvenience” was an “absolute necessity” in order to stay “one step ahead of the terrorists.” Winston’s own body had grown accustomed to such probing ever since the government expanded their scope to just about anywhere a crowd gathered, via Anti-Profiling Act of 2022. That law made it a crime to single out any group or individual for “unequal scrutiny,” even when probable cause was involved. Thus, cavity searches at malls, train stations, bus depots, etc., etc., had become almost routine. Almost.

The Supreme Court is reviewing the statute, but most Americans expect a Court composed of six progressives and three conservatives to leave the law intact. “A living Constitution is extremely flexible,” said the Court’s eldest member, Elena Kagan. “Europe has had laws like this one for years. We should learn from their example,” she added.

Winston’s thoughts turned to his own children. He got along fairly well with his 12-year-old daughter, Brittany, mostly because she ignored him. Winston had long ago surrendered to the idea that she could text anyone at any time, even during Atonement Dinner. Their only real confrontation had occurred when he limited her to 50,000 texts a month, explaining that was all he could afford. She whined for a week, but got over it.

His 16-year-old son, Jason, was another matter altogether. Perhaps it was the constant bombarding he got in public school that global warming, the bird flu, terrorism or any of a number of other calamities were “just around the corner,” but Jason had developed a kind of nihilistic attitude that ranged between simmering surliness and outright hostility. It didn’t help that Jason had reported his father to the police for smoking a cigarette in the house, an act made criminal by the Smoking Control Statute of 2018, which outlawed smoking anywhere within 500 feet of another human being. Winston paid the $5,000 fine, which might have been considered excessive before the American dollar became virtually worthless as a result of QE13. The latest round of quantitative easing the federal government initiated was, once again, to “spur economic growth.” This time they promised to push unemployment below its years-long rate of 18%, but Winston was not particularly hopeful.

Yet the family had a lot for which to be thankful, Winston thought, before remembering it was a Day of Atonement. At least he had his memories. He felt a twinge of sadness when he realized his children would never know what life was like in the Good Old Days, long before government promises to make life “fair for everyone” realized their full potential. Winston, like so many of his fellow Americans, never realized how much things could change when they didn’t happen all at once, but little by little, so people could get used to them.

He wondered what might have happened if the public had stood up while there was still time, maybe back around 2009, when all the real nonsense began. “Maybe we wouldn’t be where we are today if we’d just said ‘enough is enough’ when we had the chance,” he thought.

Maybe so, Winston. Maybe so.

How fast can you react?

The automobile driving manual says the average driver's reaction time is 0.75 seconds or 1 car length for every 10 mph. Test your average reaction time. Be careful this can be addictive!


http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/sheep/reaction_version5.swf


Me personally, I tend to score the title of Bobbing Bobcat every time. Ahh, I guess it's a good thing that I don't really drive.

Quotes I

I call this "I" because I'm sure that there will be more. Yeah, you can pretty much find every semi-famour quote ever spoken somewhere on the internet, but I love them and will continue to spread them. You never know when you might find your life-long mantra!




The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ...'

~Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992)



A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world.

~Edmond de Goncourt (1822 - 1896)



Write a wise saying and your name will live forever.

~Anonymous



Money can't buy happiness, but neither can poverty.

~Leo Rosten (1908 - )



This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.

~Will Rogers (1879 - 1935)




The very first law in advertising is to avoid the concrete promise and cultivate the delightfully vague.

~Bill Cosby (1937 - )



Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons.

~unknown, Popular Mechanics, March 1949



When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.

~C. P. Snow (1905 - 1980)



I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place.

~Steven Wright (1955 - )



The reason there are so few female politicians is that it is too much trouble to put makeup on two faces.

~Maureen Murphy



Reality continues to ruin my life.

~Bill Watterson (1958 - ), Calvin and Hobbes



Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years.

~Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Importance of Being Earnest, Act 3



Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

~Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)



University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.

~Henry Kissinger (1923 - )



I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.

~Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)



To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worthwhile. The first discipline of education must therefore be to refuse resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter.

~Aleister Crowley (1875 - 1947)



Don't you wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There's one marked 'Brightness,' but it doesn't work.

~Gallagher



The entire economy of the Western world is built on things that cause cancer.

~From the 1985 movie "Bliss"



Communism is like one big phone company.

~Lenny Bruce (1923 - 1966)



Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.

~Will Rogers (1879 - 1935)



Every composer knows the anguish and despair occasioned by forgetting ideas which one had no time to write down.

~Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869)



Spare no expense to save money on this one.

~Samuel Goldwyn (1882 - 1974)



A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire.

~Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)



Drive-in banks were established so most of the cars today could see their real owners.

~E. Joseph Cossman



As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it.

~Dick Cavett (1936 - )

Paul Hunt's gymnastic routine

Someone has skill as well as a sense of humor. I'm not much of a gymnastics-watcher, but I really enjoyed this.



http://youtu.be/EO_BnsrWMnI

One of those disguised scary videos

I considered posting this as a color blind test, similar to one that you'd get at the doctor's office. Well... it is a legitimate test, for about four rounds... then the scary face pops up and the screaming starts.

Instead, I decided to warn you, so you can play this trick on others, already warned. I don't want the bad karma. Haha.


http://www.funstufftosee.com/colorblind.html

How much longer will you live?

This is a serious life-expectancy quiz. I think it's probably a good idea to take it periodically, just as a reminder that none of us will be here forever, and the choices we make will affect how much time we have left.

http://www.poodwaddle.com/health/lifeclock/

Can you locate all 50 states?

This game is actually pretty fun, although I don't really like that it's timed!

http://www.pibmug.com/files/map_test.swf

Do You Remember These?

I didn't have the pleasure of living during the "good ol' days", but I absolutely love the 50s and 60s. The notion that time keeps flying ahead, and before long this stuff will just be a thing in museums and history books makes me incredibly sad.

Long live the 1950s!!

http://oldfortyfives.com/DYRT.htm

Cars that go RAWR

Aaaaaaahhhhhhh. Classic cars... one of the few parts of the old days that even those of us who missed out on that generation can still get a piece of. I want one. This was back when cars were art, and they were hot.

This video takes you back to the old styles, as well as the media that they inspired. Does anybody write this much music about cars nowadays? I don't think so.

*Sigh* I wanna buy one of these.

Enjoy!


http://oldfortyfives.com/CarsWeDrove.htm

Meanings behind "American Pie"

Whether or not you like McLean's song, I would recommend this video. It's a well thought out, thorough analysis of "American Pie" as it relates to the 1960s.

I don't have much to say as I feel that it, as well as the song, speaks for itself. And it never fails to blow me away.



http://youtu.be/Ycgegp0KdE4

Animator vs Animation

This has gone around, but I absolutely love it. It's a video of an animated stick figure fighting its animator on Flash.


http://alanbecker.deviantart.com/art/Animator-vs-Animation-34244097


It looks like there's more cool stuff on the artist's page as well.

German mirror prank

It makes enough sense even if you don't understand the language.


http://www.collegehumor.com/video/2998733/german-mirror-prank


(But what if... those who were pranked actually are vampires??)

Lots of nostalgia

http://www.bentbay.dk/in_oldDays.html


Just some old time banjo music with a ton of memories and photos from around the 1950s. As I've said, I wasn't around to enjoy this stuff, but I still think that it's super cool. and as a 90s kid, I can see which of these things, such as playing "Mother May I" lasted through the decades all the way up until my own childhood. I don't know if it's still around, though.

JUMP!

The Firecracker Jump Rope Team, performing at a Naval Academy basketball halftime show. Seriously, even if you're not into jump roping, you have to admit that this is pretty much epic beyond words.

I got tired watching it, and that generally doens't happen to me.

I don't know what year this is from, but I do know that it's at least a year old.


http://blip.tv/play/Ae+9MJOSSA


There is more info and more videos on their website. I couldn't get the videos to play, but I think that has something to do with the software on my computer.


www.kingsfirecrackers.com

What variety of American English do you speak?

Ze linguistic nut speaks. This survey will tell you where much of your pronunciation of American English comes from. It would probably be most revelent if you're an American, I'm guessing. Anyway, I think this stuff so super cool. Like, I could fangirl over it.


http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/yankee_dixie_quiz.html


I'm absolutely fascinated by the ways in which our language differs. Like, have you ever googled a US map of soda-vs-pop-vs-coke? That's an interesting one, which is mentioned in this survey. The funny thing for me personally is, I'm from the Pacific Northwest, where we allegedly say "pop"... except that my sister and I have been saying "soda" our entire lives without even noticing. Go figure. Plus, I can remember, as a little kid, arguing with the neighbor kid over whether the little grey bug was called a pillbug or a roly-poly.

Enjoy! And comment if you want to share your score... I'm interested in hearing how people speak! :)

Cheezburger sucks?

*Sigh*

Oh, the new moral issues that arise with the evolution of technology! One of the first blogs that I ever followed on Blogger was Bent Objects, by artist Terry Border. He's the guy who takes photos of his food/wire/everything art. I love his stuff, and recommend that you check it out.


http://bentobjects.blogspot.com/


Anyway, his most recent blog post is a complaint about Cheezburger and similar websites. You know, the "i can has cheezburgr" cat, etc. People submit photos from everywhere, and the photographer never gets any credit, and this has happened to his own work.


http://bentobjects.blogspot.com/2011/05/cheezburger-network-of-sites-sucks.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BentObjects+%28Bent+Objects%29


After reading his post and scrolling through comments left by his followers, I'm feeling a bit like I should be taking a step back to think. You've seen the stuff that I've posted, and so far this is barely even a fraction of all the awesome links and e-mails that I've received over the past seven years. Yeah, I've got links that take you right back to the source, and you can see the author, artist, publisher, etc. But I've also got uncredited things. I receieve tons and tons of e-mails with uncredited photos. And hell, if I like them enough, I'll save them to my computer or forward them onward into cyberspace. Never once thought about the photographer.

Sooo... hmm. I'm not really sure what to do at this point. Only post and pass on things that I can actually credit to people? It's only fair. Honestly, I've taken tons of pictures that I'd love to post to Flickr or someplace where they could be enjoyed, but I never have out of fear of having my work stolen.

I guess I'll be working a bit harder now to find out where what I post came from. Less convenient, but perhaps if we all tried a bit harder, more people would be getting credit for their talents.

I blame Jared Padalecki for everything

I'm a big Supernatural fan, and recently came across a grassroots charity effort by a few fans looking for a little payback. (Apparently Jared Padalecki, who pays Sam Winchester on the series, made fun of one of the ladies' heights... he's like, 6'4".)

They've been collecting autographed posters, t-shirts, scripts, and other awesome things from people who have guest starred on SPN for an online auction, which will be held on Friday, May 20th, during and after the season finale. Proceeds will benefit A Dog's Life, a rescue endorsed by Jared himself, as well as Random Acts, actor Misha Collins' charity.

You can participate in the auction if you 'like' the Facebook page. So come join the fun!


http://www.facebook.com/IBlameJared



For more info on A Dog's Life and Random Acts, here are a couple of sites to check out.


http://www.adogsliferescue.org/


and


http://youtu.be/hfLrCmm1ej8

Animal trafficking

I think we've all heard that it happens, but likely don't know very much about it. And it sounds like such a distant, far-off thing that we don't view it as an serious concern.

But stories like this are horrifying. People need to pay more attention.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110513/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_leopards_in_luggage

And how about today's ads, 50 years from now?...

I love comparing how social standards change over time, especially over the last 100 years. Honestly, the 20th Century was pretty epic. I definitely would not say that all changes have been good or even necessary, but just seeing what society viewed as acceptable when our parents or grandparents were teens is pretty incredible.

And who knew that advertisements were good for anything other than commercial growth, a good laugh, or an annoying jingle, right? I love watching viantage ads on YouTube, especially from the 1950s and 1960s. I'll probably post some of those later.

But for now, here's an article featuring 27 vintage ads that would probably be banned today.


http://www.ufunk.net/en/insolite/27-publicites-vintages-qui-ne-seraient-jamais-acceptees-aujourdhui/

A ball game

Click the ball and it will change colors. Seriously, it does.

http://thedogpaddler.com/RandomUploads/Ball/ball.htm

Have a stress-free day!

Fungal zombie ants

Gaaaah, what a horrible way to die. However, it illustrates how intricately the systems of nature have evolved together to survive in the most brilliant ways.

(PS- Don't read this article while eating. My maple bar suddenly doesn't look so tasty anymore!)


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110509065536.htm

Eye exam

IF YOU SEE SHEEP...



...YOU NEED GLASSES

Let's call it... a priceless picture

Clever, but tragic.

How to transport paint...

The description that accompanied these inspirational images--

"The people in the blue car had a 5 gallon bucket of paint on the back seat.

"The ambulance driver wouldn't let the female paramedic out of the ambulance
because she couldn't stop laughing; he said it wasn't professional."

Don't You Wanna Stay?

Just a nice country song that my friend sent me.

I know that a lot of people don't like country, but give it a shot anyway?

Plus, there are lyrics! What more could you ask for? Haha.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIjkVn_ro0g

Do we know our own laws?

Here's the description that came in the e-mail--


Below is a link to a 30-question test to see how well you know US Laws.
Not exactly grade-school level. Give it a shot, and see how well you do!

Supposedly 96% of all High School Seniors FAILED this test ... AND if that's not bad enough, 50+% of all individuals over 50 did too!! Take the test and be surprised at what we don't know.


http://games.toast.net/independence/



Anyway, I did pretty well on it... it's amazing how you try to think back to history class in middle school and high school! I wish more of us felt connected to these laws and our history on a regular basis.

Post a comment and lemme know how well you do on the quiz!

The Pacific Northwest knows how to deal with bad weather

I know this from experience.

Silly jokes

I've read that puns are considered one of the highest levels of language... you're playing with phrases that sound similar, and connect to each other in a humorous way. They're creative! Although... at the same time... sound pretty damn lame. XD

Anyway, here's a list of "bad" jokes. I'm sure at least a couple will make you smile.


1. How Do You Catch a Unique Rabbit?

Unique Up On It.


2. How Do You Catch a Tame Rabbit?

Tame Way.


3. How Do Crazy People Go Through The Forest ?

They Take The Psychopath


4. How Do You Get Holy Water?

You Boil The Hell Out Of It


5. What Do Fish Say When They Hit a Concrete Wall?

Dam!


6. What Do Eskimos Get From Sitting On The Ice too Long?

Polaroids


7. What Do You Call a Boomerang That Doesn't work?

A Stick


8. What Do You Call Cheese That Isn't Yours?

Nacho Cheese.


9. What Do You Call Santa's Helpers?

Subordinate Clauses.


10. What Do You Call Four Bullfighters In Quicksand?

Quatro Cinco.


11. What Do You Get From a Pampered Cow?

Spoiled Milk.


12. What Do You Get When You Cross a Snowman With a Vampire?

Frostbite.


13. What Lies At The Bottom Of The Ocean And Twitches?

A Nervous Wreck.


14. What's The Difference Between Roast Beef And Pea Soup?

Anyone Can Roast Beef.


15. Where Do You Find a Dog With No Legs?

Right Where You Left Him.


16. Why Do Gorillas Have Big Nostrils?

Because They Have Big Fingers.


17. Why Don't Blind People Like To Sky Dive?

Because It Scares The Dog.


18. What Kind Of Coffee Was Served On The Titanic?

Sanka.


19. What Is The Difference Between a Harley And a Hoover ?!

The Location Of The Dirt Bag.


20. Why Did Pilgrims' Pants Always Fall Down?

Because They Wore Their Belt Buckles On Their Hats.


21. What's The Difference Between a Bad Golfer And a Bad Skydiver?

A Bad Golfer Goes, Whack, Dang!
A Bad Skydiver Goes Dang! Whack.


22. How Are a Texas Tornado And a Tennessee Divorce The Same?

Somebody's Gonna Lose A Trailer.


23. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have!


THE END

"Dumb" baby names?

This photo slide show is of celebrities who have apparently screwed up in the eyes of the American public by giving their babies bad names.

To be honest, I was a bit shocked by some of the entries here. There are definitely a few that I would question. I've seen a similar report with milder name choices, so to speak, though they were also blasted by some media outlet for being dumb.


http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/entertainment-dumbcelebbabynames/


I always get a bit pissed off when I see any article listing stupid celebrity baby names, but end up reading it anyway, because names fascinate me. Here are my thoughts on these so-called bad names-- It's the parents' decision. Obviously, there are plenty of fertile human beings out there who are unfit to raise a child, but manage to produce one anyway. So, you are going to get idiots who give their babies stupid names because they think they're funny, and they've forgotten that this baby is a valid human being with a mind who is going to grow up someday.

This slide show begins with the following line: "Why can't celebrities just pick regular old names like John and Susan like the rest of us?" That irritates me because we as a society have decided what names are acceptable, and people who step outside those bounds apparently have some kind of a problem. Really? I thought that most of us were beyond that stage. Unusual names don't bother me in the slightest, if the parents actually have a reasonably defendable explanation, say, it's their half-Zimbabwean, half-Inuit grandmother's middle name. If it has a meaning that they can explain to their child, and if their child knows that this name was given to him or her out of love and respect as a human being, that is cool with me. However, if you name your twins Pete and Repete just because you think it's hilarious, you're essentially telling your kid that you don't really care that much. In that case, it's an effed up baby name.

*Pauses for breath*

So, I don't know the origins of most of the names given in the slide show. I'm sure they can be researched. But yeah, that's my take on the whole thing.

(And I'd like to add that, no, I would never name my kid John or Susan. I have no reason to.)

The Earth is deep

I've explored a few caves in the western US, and it is truly amazing to see this underside of the Earth. Even though we know that the planet is huge-- I mean, it's a sphere yet we don't sense its curve-- seeing deep holes and enormous caves still blows us away.

I'd never want to go into a volcano like this, but the pictures alone remind us that we don't live on a flat, dirt-covered plain.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1383001/Icelands-Thrihnukagigur-volcano-Explorers-descend-650ft-magma-chamber.html

Unspoken evil in World War Two

This is a trailer for a new book which came out in March. I haven't had the chance to read it, but definitely hope to, as it holds personal value for me. My family is mostly Latvian and part Lithuanian, and I know that my grandparents and great grandparents suffered immensely during WWII and afterward.

As the author, Ruta Sepetys, says, we've all heard about what Hitler and the Nazis did to the Jewish people, but many people don't know anything about how many millions Stalin and the Soviets tortured and murdered.

A well-made trailer, and a message from the hearts of those whose stories were untold.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuIy8HqJUvA

Dancing is LOVE!

Wow, I did not think that this would make me so happy. And I'd never even heard "Footloose" before.

There's just something about dancing... and how we all do it... in different places, at different times, in different styles and for different reasons.

Although I am far from the greatest singer or dancer in the world, I believe that these are our deepest, most personal ways of expressing ourselves, because all we use is what we've got. So sit back and enjoy other people throughout the history of film move their bodies!


http://youtu.be/ZYL3j27sSH8

(Sorry I couldn't embed this one!)

"Maps of War"

Interactive or video maps are awesome. I think that they're a great way to show the effects of an event, or the scope or range of something. As a writer I love words, but as a visual learner, I need pictures as well.

This website has some cool video maps showing timelines throughout history. The one I find most interesting is the history of religion, because I first saw it while taking a comparative religions course in high school.

(It's best to watch these on full screen view, so you can see all of the subtle changes.)

http://www.mapsofwar.com/index.html

http://www.mapsofwar.com/images/Religion.swf

The world in your mind

It's things like this that give me faith in human beings. Scientists believe that Stephen is able to remember and draw like this because of his autism, so most of us can't expect to have the same capabilities. Regardless, we should take it as a reminder that our brains are incredible if we just use them. And that autism does not make a person "dumb".

Watch and feel inspired!



http://youtu.be/dAfaM_CBvP8
http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/

If you love rain as much as I do

Sometimes I need silence, sometimes music, but sometimes... both are too distracting. Thankfully, there is a solution!

www.rainymood.com plays continuous rainfall and thunder cracks. A few days ago I was listening to it when it was sunny and in the upper 60s outside. Plus, if you and your room/housemates can't agree on what genre of music to listen to, perhaps you can settle on this.

Enjoy!

Hedgehogs use GPS, too

So, apparently this is what you can do with a photojournalism degree.

Awesome!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9469000/9469456.stm

Although, it's true that humans really should try not to mess with nature by introducing animals where they don't belong. *Sigh*

A disturbing lack of communication

Yes, even the police make mistakes. This family is really lucky that things didn't turn out worse, though.

Here's the video and article.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Broward-judge-ordered-by-deputies-come-out-with-your-hands-up-120755199.html?dr

...and don't the cops need a warrant to get into the house anyway??

Ophelia's sassy friend

Hi, I'm Emma! Welcome to post number one.

This blog is pretty much just what the title says-- stuff that I find places or get from people.

My parents love sending me e-mails with links to pictures, videos, articles, and all sorts of crazy things that can blow your mind and make you see the world in tons of different ways. My friends are always posting similarly fascinating things on Facebook and elsewhere.

Due to inspiration from a good friend of mine, I'm opening this blog with a video featuring something that all girls could use-- a gay guy friend. I sure could use one.

Enjoy!




"I now declare this bridge open!"
--John Lennon