Sunday, July 31, 2016

Polka Party

Jackson 5 Medley 1983



The Jacksons perform at Motown’s 25th Anniversary Special in 1983. Everyone remembers this show for “Billie Jean,” but there was a lot more going on.  


A Smile

(via reddit)

Oh, the Shame!



America’s Funniest Home Videos put together a compilation of confounded dogs and cats struggling to deal with their cones of shame. It must be awful to suddenly find that either your head or the world is a different shape. Some of these pets aren’t sure which it is, but it is difficult. (via Tastefully Offensive)

Mother-in-law

From 1956. (via Weird Universe)

Follower

That would be Ivan Scott on Facebook for me. (via Bits and Pieces)

New Kitten

(via Fark)

Billie Jean on Bottles



The Bottle Boys are always looking for something new to astound us with. In this video, they introduce the “double bottle,” in which one guy blows two bottles at once for added harmony effects. And you know the song: you can even sing along if you like! (via Metafilter)

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Dentist

He is kinda cute. (via Bad Newspaper)

Notes for the Kids

(via reddit)

Big Bird Does “Summertime”



Big Bird channels Will Smith as he and the the usual suspects from Sesame Street do the song “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. It’s a product of the editing skills of Adam Schleichkorn, also known as Mylo the Cat. It will take you back to the summer of 1991, or in some cases, back to the days of watching Sesame Street as a kid. (via Uproxx)

The Crime Diet

Lannisters

Parking



Vinod Kumar had no driveway and no parking spot. But he had a small space, just a couple inches smaller than the smallest car he could buy, and he made it work. (via reddit)

Mother-in-law

(via Fark)

10th Anniversary Gift



Laura Gilbertson has multiple sclerosis, so her husband Carl wanted to give her something extra special for their 10th anniversary. He arranged a flashmob made up of singers from the Liverpool Media Academy to serenade her with Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are.” Try to get through this without crying, I dare you. (via Uproxx)

Friday, July 29, 2016

Smart Phone

Rockin’ 1000 Does “Seven Nation Army”



The group of 1,000 musicians who got together to do the Foo Fighter’s “Learn to Fly” last year had so much fun, they decided to stay together as a group! Organizer Fabio Zaffagnini arranged for a concert last Sunday. 

Here, they perform the White Stripes’ song “Seven Nation Army” at Orogel Stadium in Cecena, Italy. This is Lorenzo Setti’s video, so that’s why he’s on camera most often. See a backstage video here. (via Metafilter)

Politicfact in Real Life



Politicfact
, a fact-checking website from the Tampa Bay Times, is a handy tool when you want to know the research behind a political soundbite, even when you don’t like the results. Most of the time, the answers are a lot more complicated than the sound bite would lead you to believe, and if you click on the quotes and read the entire explanation, you can see how the information was distilled and sometimes twisted. However, you can imagine how the politicians quoted feel about it. Imagine Politifact following you around and checking the validity behind the things you say all day. It would only take about five minutes before you are ready to strangle it. This is the latest from Randall Munroe at xkcd. Go to the link to see the hover text punchline.

Parrot Becomes Squeaky Toy



Believe it or not, this is a live parrot, and not a squeeze toy! Kanji has not only learned how to make the exact sound of a squeaky toy, he also knows the appropriate time to use that talent. (via Tastefully Offensive)

Taco Bell

An Honest Trailer for the Bourne Trilogy



The new film Jason Bourne officially opens today across the USA (although, yeah, people saw it last night). This is the fifth movie and the fourth time that Matt Damon has played the CIA assassin, and Screen Junkies thought it would be a good time to catch you up on the original trilogy so you’ll be prepared to see the new film. However, this is an Honest Trailer, so don’t expect a glowing opinion. Jason Bourne is as skilled as James Bond and as dangerous as any enemy he may encounter, yet he comes across as clueless. But the movies were hits, so we’re expecting more of the same in the new movie. They skipped The Bourne Legacy. Maybe they were just tired of watching these movies. (Thanks, Paul Panday!)

Miss Cellania's Links

50+ Fantastic Cosplay Photos From the 2016 San Diego Comic Con. Skill and imagination on display!

Photographer Sent Bill for her Own Photo, Fights Back. With a one billion dollar lawsuit against Getty and Alamy. (via Metafilter)

People Are Sharing Pics Of Their Grandmas Celebrating Hillary Clinton’s Nomination. Some of those women were born before women had the right to vote.

How Olympic Sprinter Stella Walsh Nearly Lost Her Medals Because of Her Autopsy.

The Internet Had A Photoshop Field Day With NASA’s Unbelievable Photo. The moon was in front of the earth, but what else could it be? 

 15 Things We Learned About the Alien Franchise at Comic Con. A cast reunion brought out a lot of memories and weird production stories.

How To Avoid Pointless Political Arguments. Bring out the balloons!

The camera really adds tens pounds. It all depends on what lens you use.  

Some real advice for incoming college freshmen. There’s a lot to keep up with in taking care of yourself.

8 Mysterious Tales of Traveling Dogs. How’d they get there, anyway? 

A Good Day

(via Fark)

A Stormtrooper Escort



Nicolas Denton went to Walt Disney World with his family. For the Hollywood Studios Star Wars Experience, he dressed up as Kylo Ren. When a couple of Stormtroopers saw him, they went right on duty, escorting him around the park, parting the crowd, leading him right into the Launch Bay their, past crowds of visitors in line, and right into the presence of a much-taller Kylo Ren!

As one of the commenters said, “A fast pass is no match for the power of the dark side.” A good time was had by all. (via reddit)

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Bilingual Hamster

Do Mice Really Like Cheese?



In a word, no. But somehow we got that idea and enshrined it in our fables and pop culture. Simon Whistler from Today I Found Out gives us the lowdown. Someone told me long ago that it’s better to load your mousetraps with peanut butter.  But I never had to compare the baits because I have cats. (via Laughing Squid)

How to Twerk

(via reddit)

Bird Enjoys Moving Sidewalk



Wheeeee! A little bird laded on the handrail of a moving walkway and was carried down to the end. It must have been a fun ride, because he went right back to where he was to start all over again! If only we could all spend time enjoying the little pleasures of life. We don’t know where this is, but the walls sure could use some artwork. (via Laughing Squid)

Topiary

Miss Cellania's Links

The Week Jimi Hendrix Toured with the Monkees. It didn’t go over all that well.

The Pokémon Go baby-name boom has arrived. Your little Eevee or Onix will never be able to lie about her age.

The 14-Year-Old Olympic Gymnast Who Scored The First Perfect 10. The scoreboard couldn’t handle Nadia Comăneci's perfection.

15 facts about relationships everybody should know before getting married. Research shows us what works and what doesn’t.

The Confederate Town in Upstate New York. We still don’t know why Town Line decided to secede.

Where Do Seedless Watermelons Come From? My guess would be Georgia.

French artist Matthew Tremblin took on a project to “clean up” the graffiti tags on the streets of France, by changing those signature tags to a legible font.

9 Non-Threatening Leadership Strategies for Women. It may confuse men, but will be oh-so-familiar to women who’ve been employed for at least a couple years.

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) conducted a vast study of global agriculture and how foods that originated in one region ended up sustaining different regions, both by exported agriculture and by exported food. Part of that study is a map that shows where those foods were once native plants.

Ice Bucket Challenge Leads to Significant Gene Discovery. (via reddit)

Time to Clean the Car

(via Fark)

These Carnivorous Worms Catch Bugs by Mimicking the Night Sky



You’ve heard of glow worms, but did you ever know why they want to glow like that? It’s a predator thing. Moths like it, see. This gets a bit gruesome, because, you know, it’s a predator thing. The takeaway for us is that colonies of glow worms make dark caves look like they’re lit up with stars -24 hours a day. (via The Kid Should See This)

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Ding

39 Facts about the Middle Ages



We love to study the Middle Ages because Europe a few hundred years ago was such a weird and busy place. You’ve got the fall of the Roman Empire, early written English, the plague, crusaders and conquerers, myths and legends, and the stuff that we use for our fantasy pop culture these days. John Green gives us some fascinating tidbits to add to our store of knowledge about the Middle Ages, in the latest episode of the mental_floss List Show.  

A Cosmic Groaner

Redditor terrafarma lives on a small farm, so my guess is that he is responsible for this sign. If you don’t get the joke, you might want to listen to the song. If you get the joke, you’ll love the comment flammablepenguins left underneath.

A Car Ride with Motoki



Motoki puts his heart into his lip-sync performance. And his sense of humor. For safety’s sake, his mother is driving. You’d expect to see something like this on a dance floor or stage, but the clear view and intimacy of an automobile gives us a better view, and his mother nonchalantly driving gives a find counterpoint to his goofy antics. (via Viral Viral Videos)

Pizza Problem

(via Neatorama)

The Fresh Tank Engine



Today I found out that mixing the theme from Thomas the Tank Engine with other songs is a thing. This version of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is pretty smooth. See more remixes here. (via Neatorama)

Miss Cellania's Links

Cats' Reactions to Owners. They know you, but do they care?

Liberalism works. And here’s the moral argument for liberalism. (via Metafilter)

Avalanche Fences Exposed! (via the Presurfer)

5 Terrifying Unsolved Murders.

A new technology called DeepWarp can change the gaze of a face in an image. What’s really funny and creepy are the examples given on the project page. (via Metafilter)

The Biggest Stories From San Diego Comic Com 2016. Including new trailers for upcoming movies and TV shows.

Get Used To These Extreme Summer Heat Waves. It’s probably going to be the new normal.

The Child Abduction Case That Changed Australia Forever. The three young children were last seen in 1966.

What Happens if the Olympic Torch Accidentally Goes Out? Yeah, they’ve already thought about that.

Chores

(via Fark)

How Maritime Law Works



The oceans make up vast areas of the earth’s surface that are under no governmental control. That’s where maritime law comes into play. There are zones of the oceans that are controlled by the country on the nearest shore, but they vary depending on how far away from the beach you are. In international waters, some things depend on what country your ship is registered in. Other matters are rules agreed on by various nations, but it’s rare to get all nations to agree on anything. It gets confusing, but Wendover Productions makes it as simple as they can as they explain maritime law to us. (via reddit)

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Juvenile Crime

Computer Games

(via reddit)

The Man Engine



Monday in Tavistock, UK, a 33-foot man wearing a Cornish miner’s helmet woke up, waved to the crowd, and starting walking across Cornwall. He is the Man Engine, and he’ll be walking or crawling a 130-mile route for two weeks until he reaches the Geevor Tin Mine on August 6th. Along the way, he’ll stop at all ten Cornish Mining World Heritage Sites to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the mines’ designation. The Man Engine is powered by heavy equipment behind and controlled by puppeteers with cables. You can follow the Man Engine’s progress at Facebook. (via Arbroath)

Employee Retention

Miss Cellania's Links

True Colors, and Where They Came From. Some were so dangerous they don’t exist anymore.

Supervolcanoes May Erupt Surprisingly Fast. They wait millions of years, and then surprise us. What fun!

The First Democratic Convention on Live TV Was the Last Not to be Air-Conditioned. Yes, those two things were very much related to each other.

What Was the Deal with Alexander Hamilton's Dad? The younger Hamilton was surprisingly forgiving.

Starbucks wants its baristas to wear fedoras and other awful hats. Check out the new dress code and how people are reacting.

The best TV of 2016 so far: The A.V. Club’s catch-up guide. You can binge-watch and be ready for the best shows to return.


Funny Vanity Plates Can Backfire on You. (via reddit)

It is a decision that no parent should have to make: should we let our very sick baby die before she was born? Nadia’s story is a difficult one, with no happy ending.

Star Trek Christmas Ornaments Just Keep Getting Weirder. (via Metafilter)

Guillermo Pomarillo is going to Stanford. Best of luck, Guillermo!

Upholstery

(via Fark)

Monday, July 25, 2016

Like,

Adam Savage Incognito at Comic-Con 2016



Every year, Adam Savage wears a costume to San Diego Comic Con in order to get around without being recognized. This year, he was a bear. No, he wasn’t trying to be a furry, although that’s what quite a few people assumed. He was supposed to be the bear from the movie The Revenant. The particulars of the suit construction are in another video to come; this one follows him as he wanders the halls of Comic Con. (via Digg)


40th Birthday

When you bake a birthday cake for someone celebrating a substantial number of years, say more than 12, the easiest way to do it is to put one candle on top, or use those candles that come in the shape of numbers. Or you can put all the candles on and have someone stand by with a fire extinguisher for a good laugh. But these folks went all out. Redditor OyVeyzMeir posted the cake from a friend’s 40th birthday in which firetrucks were standing by for the expected conflagration.

6 Adorable Animals on Skateboards

Ever since Tillman the Skateboarding Bulldog came on the scene in 2007, the internet has had a fascination with animals who like to shred. Quite a few species have tried it, with varying degrees of success. Let’s meet eleven animals in seven enjoyable videos, in a list I posted at mental_floss.

Bing

(via Buzzfeed)

Republican National Convention



John Oliver returned to TV last night on his show Last Week Tonight. First things first: he has a recap off what happened at the Republican National Convention.

Miss Cellania's Links

Storytime with Abraham Lincoln. The president always had a soft spot for animals.

Power Plant Energy Sources in the U.S. (via Digg)

What It Was Like To Buy And Own A Car In The USSR. (via Metafilter)

The Ecuadorian Walking Palm Tree. (via Nag on the Lake)

15 times Star Trek Altered the Timeline.

Hollywood, Astronomy, and the Alien Question. Both science and fiction view possible alien encounters through a lens of politics and global mood.

10 Things Doctors Have Reconsidered This Century. When new facts come in, we benefit from open minds.

9 Simple Ways To Reduce Waste In Your Home. Not only does every little bit help, but we’re helping to make it cool to be green.

Leslie Jones has the perfect metaphor to explain Twitter abuse. It took a celebrity to get the social network to pay attention to hateful trolls. 

The outrageous rip-off of taxpayer-funded stadiums. You’d think a profitable team could pay for their own home.

He Tried

(via Fark)

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Should've Seen It Coming

How Did Hitler Rise to Power?



How does a tyrant rise to the type of power that Adolf Hitler held over Germany? You take a defeated and fractured nation and unite the people by giving them a scapegoat to blame their troubles on. Fear, anger, and bigotry can lead crowds to do things they would never do as individuals. Hitler was in the right place at the right time, and if he hadn’t taken advantage of the situation, it’s possible that someone else would have. Would someone else have used that power in a different way? It's hard to say, because we know how power corrupts, and how power inspires the desire for more power. (via Metafilter)

The Toddler Years

Saved Seats

(via Fark)

First Trailer for Wonder Woman



The trailer for the upcoming Wonder Woman movie debuted at San Diego Comic Con. We first saw Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and now it’s time for her to kick ass and take names in her own film. Chris Pine is Steve Trevor. The movie will be out in June of 2017. (via Uproxx)

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Spiders

The Common Chameleon



This “nature documentary” is actually animated. The chameleon’s biggest flaw is its “untamed sense of appetite.” He wants to eat anything that flies by, which turns out to be his downfall. Karma, chameleon! This is episode two of the series Our Wonderful Nature. You can see episode one here. We may see episode three in another five years. (via Digg)

Mario Kart GO

(via reddit)

Chubs Likes Pinball



His favorite thing ever! (via reddit)

Giving Up Vegetarianism

I Only Drink a Little

NASA: On the Edge of Forever



To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek and the opening of the new film Star Trek Beyond, NASA has produced three videos about the link between the science fiction franchise and the real-world space agency. The first one is about the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA has always loved Star Trek. The fictional universe inspired generations of young people to pursue science and technology careers, and among those who didn’t, it engendered a respect for space exploration that enables NASA to continue funding projects like the ISS and Mars exploration. (via Boing Boing)

Location

(via Fark)

Friday, July 22, 2016

Tinfoil Dogs

The Pizza Equation



We know that pie are square, and that’s very important when you’re talking about pizza pie. How do you get the most pizza for your dollar? By doing the math. 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.

Alaskan Restaurant

(via reddit)

Dogs Playing on Slides



Some dogs understand what’s supposed to happen on a playground slide, while others have yet to grasp the concept. It doesn’t really matter; they all are having the time their lives! (via Tastefully Offensive)

Quiet Vacation

14 Rainbow Foods to Try

We’ve been told that we should eat a variety of brightly-colored foods for maximum nutrition. Maybe that’s why we're so drawn to rainbow-colored dishes, even if they're created with food coloring. Lucky for us, there are more treats that come in rainbow colors than ever before. Here are just a few of them, in a list I posted at mental_floss.

Amtrak

Jon Stewart Returns to TV



It’s a special occasion, after all. The Republican National Convention lured Stewart away from his cabin in the woods to say a few things last night on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (via Uproxx)


Miss Cellania's Links

Labor Intensive: The Way Childbirth Used to Be. Childbirth is no picnic. But at least it no longer involves chickens and weasels. 

Mourad Laachraoui is the taekwondo European Champion, and will compete as part of the Belgium national team at the Olympics in Rio next month. Najim Laachraoui, a suicide bomber who died at the Brussels airport in March, is Mourad Laachraoui’s older brother. (via Metafilter)

The Generic Villain Problem. Hollywood tends to hire the best actors for those roles, and them hide them behind prosthetics, makeup, or CGI.

23 Haunted College Campuses. Your school might be on the list.

The Justice in Superhero Conformity. Audiences don’t like their comic book heroes deconstructed.

10 Classic Swimming Pool Games. A little competition can keep the sibling squabbling down to a low roar.

Here’s A Short Story About A Rescued Cat. Fat Face has her problems, but ended up as a much-loved pet.

20 Things You Didn’t Know About San Francisco. The city is so much more than high rents and hipsters.

The silently devastating landmines of Cambodia. There are millions left from the Vietnam War, still able to detonate.