Now gluten-free!

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Drunk guy sings Bohemian Rhapsody in back of police car

I'll bet that if this guy had been sober, he wouldn't have been able to remember the lyrics.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

They Might Be Giants - Electronic Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

This cut is from the CD Album Raises New and Troubling Questions from They Might Be Giants. It's a bizarre electronic reworking (complete with a Speak & Spell) of their popular cover of the song made famous by The Four Lads in 1953:


You may recall their previous version of the song was featured as an animated music video on Tiny Toon Adventures:

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool

Pool is generally considered to be a safe sport in America. But if this recent report in The Sun is any indication, pool can be quite dangerous in England.

Andy Parton slipped during a friendly game of pool and impaled himself through the eye socket on his cue. Doctors, thinking his injury was superficial, stitched him up and sent him home.

When his eye failed to open properly in the three months following the accident, they investigated further. An MRI scan revealed that the tip of the pool cue had embedded itself in Parton's brain. A 10-hour surgery followed, which involved removing part of his skull, retrieving the broken tip, and rebuilding the top of his nose and eyebrow. He recovered and is now doing fine.

A similar, though less traumatic, incident happened to Chantel Faill in 1999. A male friend came in to give her a bear hug and ended up piercing the top of her mouth with the pool cue he was holding. Medics gave her a pain reliever and sent her on her way.

For the next 12 years, Chantel struggled with aching and congested sinuses. Subsequent doctor visits failed to pinpoint the problem. Relief only came when she finally coughed up a tissue-covered cue tip.

Let these incidents serve as a warning to you pool players out there. Whatever you do, be careful...and never, ever put your trust in the British health care system.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Baby squirrel chewing on a set of Apple earbuds

Sure. Pretty much anything is cute when it's little.


But when it grows up and starts chewing holes in your roof? Not so much.

(via Good Report)

Mismatched superheroes

(via 9GAG)

Friday, March 23, 2012

What's the story, Morning Glory? Mysterious clouds seen over Australia


Morning Glory clouds like the ones seen in this photo have had scientists stumped for a long time. Here's NASA's explanation:
What causes these long, strange clouds? No one is sure. A rare type of cloud known as a Morning Glory cloud can stretch 1,000 kilometers long and occur at altitudes up to two kilometers high. Although similar roll clouds have been seen at specific places across the world, the ones over Burketown, Queensland Australia occur predictably every spring. Long, horizontal, circulating tubes of air might form when flowing, moist, cooling air encounters an inversion layer, an atmospheric layer where air temperature atypically increases with height. These tubes and surrounding air could cause dangerous turbulence for airplanes when clear. Morning Glory clouds can reportedly achieve an airspeed of 60 kilometers per hour over a surface with little discernible wind. Pictured above, photographer Mick Petroff photographed some Morning Glory clouds from his airplane near the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia.

Video of Bigfoot in Idaho

The Zapruder-like quality of the video makes this recent Bigfoot sighting believable...



Or maybe not.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Google Amazon View

Google has expanded its Street View feature to include the Amazon River, or at least part of it. Check it out:




View Larger Map

(via Google Sightseeing)

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Look, Ma! No hands!

This is probably the cheapest hands-free solution for your cell phone you'll find:


(from The Daily Mail)

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Squirrel drinking a peanut smoothie through a straw

Proof that squirrels suck.

Allison Carrick, from Stubbington in Hampshire, made this peanut smoothie for the squirrels in her garden. She said: "When I first offered them the drink they just lapped it up from a dish but then I put out a sundae glass and a straw to see what they would do. To my amazement before long they were sucking away to their hearts content. It's great fun to watch them and it keeps them off the bird table."

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Fashion designer makes shoes out of horses' hooves

German designer Iris Schieferstein on her bizarre creations that mix taxidermy and fashion:
"I love horses and I love shoes so I thought this would be perfect. Horses have a beautiful walk and I wanted to recreate that with my footwear.

"Creating the shoes is ugly work, taking the meat out is not nice, like any taxidermy. When I began working with dead animals I would pick them up from the street.

"But they are protected by the government in Germany, and so after ten years they tried to put me in prison. Now I use my butcher.

"Once the shoes are made I wear them to make sure they work, although they would not be suitable to wear around the house."
Are there really that many people out there wanting to look like fauns or centaurs to create a market for this?

(via Dave Barry's Blog)

Shark feeding frenzy off the Australian coast

Buddy check!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Sure, a dog's gotta doo what a dog's gotta doo...

...but right in the middle of the dog show?

"Gorilla" on the loose in rural Alabama

ABC is reporting that authorities are "on the hunt for at least one gorilla" that was spotted in the rural Alabama town of Newbern. Another witness reported seeing what may have been a bear, but none of the sightings have yet been confirmed by home or surveillance video.

The closest zoo is nearly 100 miles away in Birmingham. Officials there confirmed that the zoo's only gorilla is present and accounted for.

So...there's a bear-sized, ape-like creature running around rural Alabama? Come on, ABC! Can't you at least mention what everyone else is thinking?

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Penguins on a plane

From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
It's something you don't see too often flying at 30,000 feet.

Passengers on Delta Air Lines Flight 486 this week looked down and found a pair of penguins waddling down the aisle of their Atlanta-to-New York bound aircraft.

According to a Yahoo News blogger who was on the Wednesday night flight, the pilot provided a cryptic warning before Pete and Penny, both a foot and a half feet tall, began their waddle-about.

"Is anyone here allergic to penguins?" Sideshow blogger Dylan Stableford quoted the captain asking 300 puzzled passengers.

The penguins, who suddenly appeared from first class, were headed to the premier of the Discovery Channel's environmental documentary series "Frozen Planet", held at the Lincoln Center on Thursday.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Suspicious coconut forces evacuation near courthouse

Police in Frederick County, Maryland, take their job of protecting the public seriously. Nothing escapes their attention, and if there's a suspicious-looking fruit loitering around outside, you can bet they'll be all over it.

Such was the case shortly before 8 a.m. last Wednesday when a coconut was found near the Frederick County Courthouse. Naturally, the area was cleared and the bomb squad called in.

The entire ordeal lasted about 20 minutes, until, according to the report, "The fruit was determined not to be dangerous. The incident is under investigation."

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

How to cite a tweet in an academic paper

It's pretty simple, really:


Visit The Atlantic for more detailed instructions.

Monday, March 05, 2012

So you want to open a lemonade stand...

Journalist John Stossel looked into what it would take to open a legal lemonade stand in New York City. He found he had to:
-- Register as sole proprietor with the County Clerk's Office (must be done in person)

-- Apply to the IRS for an Employer Identification Number.

-- Complete 15-hr Food Protection Course!

-- After the course, register for an exam that takes 1 hour. You must score 70 percent to pass. (Sample question: "What toxins are associated with the puffer fish?") If you pass, allow three to five weeks for delivery of Food Protection Certificate.

-- Register for sales tax Certificate of Authority

-- Apply for a Temporary Food Service Establishment Permit. Must bring copies of the previous documents and completed forms to the Consumer Affairs Licensing Center.

Then, at least 21 days before opening your establishment, you must arrange for an inspection with the Health Department's Bureau of Food Safety and Community Sanitation. It takes about three weeks to get your appointment. If you pass, you can set up a business once you:

-- Buy a portable fire extinguisher from a company certified by the New York Fire Department and set up a contract for waste disposal.

We couldn't finish the process. Had we been able to schedule our health inspection and open my stand legally, it would have taken us 65 days.
If you're thinking running a lemonade stand might be a good summertime activity for your kids, you'd better start working on it now.

Saturday, March 03, 2012

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