unique and interesting: December 2008

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year

Every new year people make resolutions to change aspects of themselves they believe are negative. A majority of people revert back to how they were before and feel like failures. This year I challenge you to a new resolution. I challenge you to just be yourself.
- Aisha Elderwyn

Fishdog

A TV commercial for the VW SpaceFox from Buenos Aires based BITT Animation.

Armed with a digital camera, the Navel Maniac patrols the streets of Brussels, Belgium, asking strangers if he can take pictures of their belly buttons.

Green Art Studio

A lot of paintings are composed of toxic chemicals, petro-oils, plastics and heavy metals along with preservatives and fungicides like formaldehyde. A lot of paintings also produce off gases that increase the toxicity of the environment in which they are manufactured and displayed.

Greg Patch of Green Art Studios uses beeswax and pigments that are toxicologically harmless - food container safe by European and US standards. The papers he is using are sustainably harvested plant based materials or recycled cotton pulp.

He says: My paintings move with the forces of nature - the streams, mountains, astrology, technology, thoughts, actions, energy, self, lunch – and culminate in the realization that everything is the wave.

I believe that nature calls to each of us to step out of ourselves and into it, to identify and revel within it, amid the waves. Doing this can transform our awareness into an energy greater than our own understanding.

(thanks Greg)

From Vectorpark: The Spider.

Want to know if the car you drive has appeared in any movies?
The Internet Movie Cars Database has the most complete list on the web about cars, bikes, trucks and other vehicles seen in movies.

(thanks Cora)

One Year In 40 Seconds

Images snapped at the same spot through one year. Showing the seasons change.

lost: no longer in the possession, care, or control of someone or something.

shoe: an external covering for the human foot, usually of leather and consisting of a more or less stiff or heavy sole and a lighter upper part ending a short distance above, at, or below the ankle.

The Lost Shoe Project.

Even the most powerful superheroes and supervillains need some help sometimes.

These butlers, chauffeurs, and valets may make the coffee and drive the cars, but they can also hold their own in a fight.

Owned

Moral of the story: Don't eat an unidentified insect before knowing what it is capable of.

(via Dump Trumpet)

Go to this Google Maps scene, keep zooming out and tell me who lives here.

Thanks For Referring

Here's a list of the websites that have sent me the most visitors in the past year.

Neatorama
Nothing To Do With Arbroath
Dark Roasted Blend
UniqueDaily
mental_floss
Bits & Pieces
Reality Carnival
Ehrensenf
AdFreak
Andrew Sullivan

Thanks to all of you.

Creative grooming is the practice of cutting, dyeing, twisting and sculpting a dogs' coat, transforming a pet from an ordinary canine into a colorful, extravagant representation of just about anything.

Some say the dogs like it to be at the center of attention, others call it animal abuse. You decide for yourself.

A Flickr photoset of 30 ways to die of electrocution.

(via Bre Pettis)

The Cheap Things

Sabotaging your hard drive to take advantage of your extended warrantee before it expires? Switching plastic sleeves on new and used LP's with cheaper ones? Writing the wrong room number on the hotel bar tab? Returning your digital camera to the store after removing the extra stick of memory?

Yes, there are hundreds of ways to do to save money. Here's a list of those ways. Some are good ideas, some are lousy ideas, and some are downright criminal.

Beautiful pictures of Belgrade, Serbia.

(via Dark Roasted Blend)

Remember the classic video games? The 8-bit masterpieces of our sweaty-palmed youth. Inviting some friends over for a Maniac Mansion all-nighter, huffing asthmatically into a cartridge to clear out the dust, or the thrill and crushing disappointment of rescuing a princess, only to discover you've really just saved a fungus.

These games aren't lost forever. You can still play many of them online. If you love the old classics, this list should have you busy for months.

The Venting Place

Masaki Ogawara is a 35-year-old Japanese printing company salesman with a lot on his mind. Now a visibly happier man thanks to his dish-smashing therapy at the anti-stress project 'The Venting Place.'

Begun only one month ago, it's really just a couple of concrete slabs on the back of a truck where passers-by like Ogawara dish out about two dollars to smash a cup or saucer.

Did you know that nearly 50% of the adult population in the U.S. is believed to be shy? That on average, shy men marry later in life? And that shyness causes shy people to miss out on opportunities that others would embrace?

Shyness is a psychological state that causes a person to feel discomfort in social situations in ways that interfere with enjoyment or that cause avoidance of social contacts altogether. Shyness can vary from mild feelings to moderately uncomfortable in social circumstances to debilitating levels of anxiety that interfere in children with the process of socialization.

Tips For Shaking Your Shyness.

A sound collage featuring a sample of the musicians who died this year.

The number 7 has a special place in various cultures based on its relative frequency. Scientific experiments have shown how favorable this number is chosen by participating humans.

It is the most frequently selection if people are asked to name their favorite number. As blue is as often chosen as the favorite color the phenomenon is also called 'blue-seven' phenomenon.

The 13 Most Famous Numbers And Their Stories.

How To Do Almost Anything With Social Media

A hand-picked selection of Mashable's social media How-To articles in 2008; some holiday reading, perhaps, or something to refer back to once you restart the daily grind in 2009.

For most people the beach is a place to relax, especially when visited as part or a holiday. It's a place to forget the worries of every day life, look out to a hopefully calm sea and sprawl out on a strip of warm sand.

So it seems surprising that on some beaches around the world, artists have been chosen to display some of the creepiest structures known to man that are sure to traumatise the most hardened of tourists, especially at a time when the defenses are down.

Home Schooled

Home Schooled is a comics series by American artist Ash Jackson.
Co-writing by Silas Jackson.
The Presurfer will feature a Home Schooled cartoon every Monday. This is an absolute exclusive cooperation between The Presurfer and Ash Jackson.

Home Schooled is more or less a reflection of the wacky and occasionally interesting adventures of the artist, Ash Jackson, himself, with the aid of his friends, family, and other cohorts.

Title: Use Your Words.

click on the picture for real size

Roll your mouse over the photos to reveal stars aging.

(via Everlasting Blort)

Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer from Port Arthur, Texas. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later as a solo artist.

I'm a big fan of Janis Joplin. I know, some of you may say she was a drug-addicted drunk, and she sang with a raw and screaming voice, but I saw her at a live concert in April 1969 in Amsterdam and although that is almost 40 years ago, she still touches me.

Janis Joplin on Wikipedia.
Official Janis Joplin Website.

Have you ever wondered how space exploration impacts your daily life? At NASA Home and City, viewers can navigate around two floating islands.

Clicking on 'NASA Home' reveals various rooms and all of the everyday products that were developed as a result of space technology. In 'NASA City' you can enter the airport, the hospital, factories and office buildings -again revealing all of the products, tools and machinery that had their beginnings in the space program.

NASA Home and City - See how space traces back to you.

Instantaneous Cure! Price 15 Cents. For sale by all Druggists. Cocaine is the new anaesthetic now used so extensively thoughout Europe and this country by Physicians, Surgeons and Dentists.

This preparation of Toothache Drops contains Cocaine, and its wonderful properties are fully demonstrated by the many recommendations it is daily receiving. Take no other except Cocaine Toothache Drops. Prepared by the Lloyd Manufacturing Co., 219 Hudson Ave., Albany, N.Y.

From The Nearly Genuine and Truly Marvelous Psychoneuropharmacological Mental Medicine Show, an online gallery of modern and vintage psychiatric drug advertising.

The Russian Mil V-12 was by far largest helicopter ever built. It was developed in the Soviet Union during the 1960s.

The V-12 featured two rotors mounted side by side at the ends of a large wing. Each rotor had a diameter of nearly 115 ft. The helicopter was so enormous that the distance from the edge of one rotor disk to the other was almost 220 ft, even wider across than the wingspan of a Boeing 747.

More large helicopters at Aerospaceweb.

As an American traveling in a foreign country, the last thing you want to do is stand out like a sore thumb. Not only do you have a greater chance of getting sucked into tourist traps, but you're also a more obvious target for getting mugged or even kidnapped.

So, are you aware of the things you do, say, and wear that make you look like the stereotypical tourist?

Find Your Future You

Who will you be in 2033? Upload your picture, adjust it, and decide who you'll be in 2033.

Find Your Future You.

Potty Training For Japanese Kids

Mass hysteria (also called collective obsessional behavior) is the sociopsychological phenomenon of the manifestation of the same or similar hysterical symptoms by more than one person.

These anomalous phenomena occur just like other natural phenomena and have long-lasting psychological and often fatal effects on the victims. Unusual as they are, similarly absurd phenomena are observed in animals and plants as well.

People Who Deserve It is not written with malice or scorn, but with a sincere desire to witness the upward progression of the human race. And some people are ruining it for everybody.

People who wear sunglasses inside. Savages who pee on the seat. This kind of conduct only perpetuates the acceptance of degenerate behavior.
On People Who Deserve It you will find examples of socially responsible reasons to punch someone in the face.

(via Nag on the Lake)

JibJab's 2008 Year In Review

Baby New Year '08 takes you on a tour of all of the good, bad, and worse the past year had to offer, all at breakneck speed.

The 50 Best Astronomy Pictures Of 2008.

My Holiday Sweater

Make your own dream-come-true holiday sweater. Pick a sweater, pick a pattern, decorate, and there you go! A model shows your sweater but you can also upload a photo and show it yourself.

My Holiday Sweater.

The Sound Effect Generator.

Chinese Girl Has Basketball For A Body

Qian Hongyan, who was forced to use half a basketball as her prosthetic body, has inspired millions recently with her ambition to compete as a swimmer in the 2012 Paralympics in London.

The 10 year-old was injured in an auto accident when she was only 3 years old. To insure her survival, the doctors were forced to amputate her legs. Qian's family, living in Zhuangxia, China, was unable to afford modern prosthetics and instead gave her a basketball to get around on. Once on the ball she uses two wooden props to help her move around.

(via eScene)

50 Things We Know Now (We Didn't Know This Time Last Year)

Did you know that using Facebook makes you a better employee, or that drinking wine can help you avoid lung cancer, or that doing tai chi makes life easier for asthmatics?

A list of things we know now we didn't know last year.

From time immemorial, societies have sought to establish a lasting presence on this planet that would remind latecomers of their glory long after they themselves have abandoned ship and turned to dust.

It doesn't always work out the way we plan, however. These sobering examples of post-apocalyptic art remind the living that what remains are more often ruins.

360 Cities brings interactive, panoramic photography to the mainstream.They are dedicated to promoting geo-mapped, VR panorama photography and VR photographers around the world.

(thanks Jeffrey)

Merry Christmas

Take a look at Christmas catalogs of the past.

(via Everlasting Blort)

Did you know you can look at The Presurfer from your mobile phone?
Just go to Presurfer Mobile and look at the left hand side of the page where it says 'Send This Link to Your Phone.'

Falling in love is the easy part. It's staying that way that takes some work.

So instead of saying... 'This relationship stuff. It gives me a headache just to think about it...' try to change your attitude a bit.

A photo story based on the book 'Fairy Tales Can Come True (Just Not Every Day!)'

The Black Hole

A sleep-deprived office worker accidentally discovers a black hole - and then greed gets the better of him...

This stuff is just amazing. Just spray some of this wintergreen-flavored miracle into your mouth, and long-forgotten memories will rise to the surface.

(via Mookie)

Weird Animal

Siphonophorae or Siphonophora, the siphonophores, are an order of the Hydrozoa, a class of marine invertebrates belonging to the phylum Cnidaria. They are colonial, but the colonies can superficially resemble jellyfish.

Although they appear to be a single organism, each specimen is actually a colony of Siphonophorae. The best known species is the dangerous Portuguese Man o' War.

(via Dark Roasted Blend)

NASA's space shuttle Endeavour recently returned to the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after its successful mission to the International Space Station. The shuttle, being a reusable spacecraft, has a cycle of preparation, execution and recovery.

Endeavour has been through this cycle 22 times now, since 1992. Here is a look at one full cycle for one space shuttle, starting with the landing of Endeavour from its previous mission on March 26th, and ending with its return to Florida 9 months later.

With Christmas days away, The Smoking Gun has a roundup of mug shots of a dozen arrestees bearing a passing resemblance to Santa Claus himself.

In Japan, where real estate is prohibitively expensive, there are lots of thin buildings. You've probably seen one of these: quaintly slender buildings sandwiched between two large ones; sharp, pointed corner structures hugging every available space.

So if you're bemoaning the cramped, crowded flat you're holed up in somewhere in Tokyo, just be thankful you don't live or work inside one of these claustrophobic structures.

Jingle Bells By 49 Microwaves

If you're looking for a store with a bit of a difference for holiday gifts, here are 10 of the more unusual places to go to fill a Christmas stocking.

(thanks Andi)

The Universal Record Database

The Universal Record Database is an evolution of a Burning Man theme camp created in the summer of 2004. A group of friends, including URDB co-founder Dan Rollman, sat down in San Francisco to brainstorm theme ideas for their camp.

Eager for a concept that allowed community participation, Dan suggested a Burning Man Book of Records, in large part due to his lifelong Guinness Book obsession.

(via Grow-A-Brain)

Depending on which feature you use, Google Maps offers a satellite view or a street-level view of tons of locations around the world. You can look up landmarks like the Pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of China, as well as more personal places.

But for all of the places that Google Maps allows you to see, there are plenty of places that are off-limits. Whether it's due to government restrictions, personal-privacy lawsuits or mistakes, Google Maps has slapped a 'Prohibited' sign on these 51 places.

(via corsinet)

The I Love The Hoff Super Fantastic Activity Fun Book

Now with 200% more Hoff.
The I Love The Hoff Super Fantastic Activity Fun Book. (pdf document)

(via Everlasting Blort)

Gnome crossings happen everyday. Gnutty for Gnomes is a blog dedicated to all things gnome: gnomes in the garden, gnomes in the gnews, gnome humor, gnome products, crafts featuring gnomes, gnome photos, and everything else gnome.

Origami (from oru meaning 'folding,' and kami meaning 'paper') is the ancient Japanese art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create a representation of an object using geometric folds and crease patterns preferably without the use of gluing or cutting the paper, and using only one piece of paper.

17 Beautiful Examples of Origami Art.

Motor bikes are one thing, side cars are another! You just don't see many of them these days. Here are some crazy side cars.

(via Dark Roasted Blend)

Politics without buzzwords is like sports without clichés, math without numbers or Blago without bleeps. Buzzwords are what political wiseguys use to sound all important and knowing in a profession whose prime currency is the illusion of being both. They are like secret passwords for the chattering class, the verbal equivalent of a terrorist fist jab.

The New York Times' buzzwords of 2008.

Knitting for Psychos, the complete version.

By now you probably have your Christmas tree installed and decorated. But if not, you might try something unusual. Take a look at these strange, unusual and funny Christmas trees.

(thanks Olga)

Portraits as Living Deads.

(via Optical Poptitude)

Pages - Menu

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Monday, December 29, 2008

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Friday, December 26, 2008

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Monday, December 22, 2008