Honesty
Honesty is a series of short films taking place in a world where people say exactly what they think. Pretty funny stuff. The one above takes place at a funeral. Link to the whole series
Paint-Splattered Jeans Fashion
For those who wanted to get that rugged house painter kind of look but don’t want to be bothered with actually painting anything, here are the perfect jeans for you: Behold the Painted Selvedge Jean by J.Crew!
Otto of Ottodestruct blog said it best:
That’s right kiddies, JCrew sells pre-paint stained jeans. For those people too lazy to paint a house, now you can look like you’ve actually been working too, but without all that pain in the ass “labor”.
I understood the patched jeans fad. The scuffed torn thing, I got. The wrong size thing was weird to me, and god help me I even understand stone-washed. But this is simply too far out there for me. Not because of the look, although they look terrible, but because of the price.
Those jeans cost $285.
That’s right. Take one $60-$80 pair of jeans, add $1 worth of white paint, and charge $285 for it.
And there was my wife, badgering me to get rid of my paint-splattered pants. Don’t you see I’m hip now, honey? Link
Paparazzi-Free Home
A high-rise condo project in Los Angeles has a unique marketing pitch to attract wealthy (and presumably famous) buyers: a paparazzi-free home!
The Carlyle Residences, a 24-story tower under construction on Wilshire Boulevard, bills itself as the first building specifically designed to thwart prying lenses.
Promotional materials for the property, which is set to open next year, promise round-the-clock patrols by "Israeli-trained VIP" security guards, private elevators that open directly into apartments, and high hedges that shield the swimming pool and yoga lawn from shutterbugs. Even the shape of the tower, a crescent, is advertised as an anti-paparazzi device. According to the developer, it minimizes views into the Carlyle from neighboring buildings.
Paparazzis, on the other hand, don’t seem to be too deterred:
Among those who make their living by chasing the rich and famous, news of the building’s paparazzi-free design brought either laughter or eye-rolling.
"A waste of advertising," said Giles Harrison, a paparazzo who has worked in Los Angeles for 14 years. "Paparazzi don’t go into buildings to get shots. They wait until people go out and about. I have yet to see a paparazzi shot that came from the inside of a private residence."
Christian Zimmerman, a tabloid photographer for five years, said colleagues would simply park on the street and wait until celebrities left the building.
"Then they will follow their cars and it will be like any other day in the field," he said.
Harriet Ryan and Joanna Lin of the Los Angeles Times have the story: Link | The Carlyle Residences official website [warning: Flash with auto-starting music] - Thanks Tiffany!
(Photo: Elad Properties West)
What Really Motivates Islamic Religious Radicals? Hint: Not Religion.
In a groundbreaking project to understand what the world’s 1.3 million billion Muslims really think, Gallup World Poll conducted a massive, multiyear research and conducted tens of thousands of interviews in 35 countries with predominantly Muslim (or have significant Muslim) populations.
The result is this book: Who Speaks for Islam? by John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed - and here are some of its most counterintuitive findings, as pertaining to terrorism and religious radicals:
•Among the Muslims surveyed, 7 percent condoned the 9/11 attacks. The study terms these the "politically radicalized."
•When asked why they supported the attacks, the radicals gave political rather than religious reasons. They have a sense of political frustration and feel humiliated and threatened by the West. Those who opposed the attacks often gave religious reasons for doing so.
•The radicals, on average, are not the down-and-out people in society. They are more educated than moderates, and two-thirds of radicals have average or above-average income. Forty-seven percent supervise others at work. They are more optimistic about their own lives than are moderates (52 percent to 45 percent).
•Radicals are no more religious than the general population and do not attend mosque more frequently. (Source)
The Christian Science Monitor has a nice summary of the book, divided into topics like Islam and democracy, women’s right, and how Muslims view the West - via Il Filosofo
World’s Most Colorful Lakes
Photo: Nicky.lew [Flickr]
Environmental Graffiti blog has a really nice round up of some of the world’s most colorful lakes - turquoise and blue lakes, green and yellow lakes, purple and red lakes and so on.
This one above is the Red Lake, a large salt lake in Uyuni, Bolivia (the red color is caused by microscopic organisms living in the water).
Link - Thanks Linda!
Patterns of Reflection by Douglas Hill
Remember the kaleidoscope that you used to play with as a kid? Well, Douglas P. Hill’s blog Patterns of Reflection is kind of like a kaleidoscope … only in a web form.
Douglas is also offering some awesome (and free!) tiling patterns you can use for your arts and craft project: Link
The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Growing
Meet Brenden Adams, a 12-year-old boy who already is 7 feet tall (2.1 m) and couldn’t stop growing:
And though friends say Brenden is just a regular kid, he’s obviously not like anybody else. He has to duck through most doorways and sit sideways at his school desk because his knees don’t fit under it.
In his mom’s sport utility vehicle, he has to fold down the second row of seats, sit in the third row and stretch his legs out over the middle row in order to sit comfortably. His shoe size? 18 and still growing.
The cause? Doctors think that it’s a chromosomal abnormality:
For years, doctors continued to search for the source and an answer to Brenden’s unstoppable growth. He went through multiple tests and X-rays as medical experts tried to determine what was going on inside Brenden’s body.
Then, finally, a breakthrough — when Brenden was eight years old and already the size of an adult.
"I have to say that the hematologists and oncologists here actually helped us figure it out," admits Parisi. "He has a very unusual rearrangement of his genetic material. It’s what’s called an inversion of chromosome-12 and it affects every single cell in his body."
Man Wanted to Remain Standing, Even in Death
Angel Pantoja Medina has an unusual last wish. The 24-year-old Puerto Rican man wanted to remain standing, even in death:
A funeral home used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpse of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing upright for his three-day wake.
Dressed in a Yankees baseball cap and sunglasses, Pantoja was mourned by relatives while propped upright in his mother’s living room.
His brother Carlos told the El Nuevo Dia newspaper the victim had long said he wanted to be upright for his own wake: "He wanted to be happy, standing."
(Photo: Juan Alicea Marcado / El Nuevo Dia)
Science: Men with Round Faces Tend to be More Aggressive
Scientists at Brock University, Ontario, Canada, has discovered a link between aggression and men’s facial structure: men with round faces tend to be more aggressive!
The male sex hormone testosterone makes faces more circular and now scientists have studied whether this characteristic is also linked to behaviour.
A Canadian team studied 90 ice hockey players and found the rounder the face, the more aggressive the players.
Pistol-Tottin’ Grandma Forced Burglar to Call 911
Leda Smith of Lake Lynn, Pennsylvania, returned from church to find that her house was in the process of being burglarized. So what did the 85-year-old great-grandma do? She didn’t exactly cower in fear:
"I saw him move by my keyboard near the wall but I just walked right on past him to the bedroom and got my gun," Smith said, noting that she started keeping the .22-caliber revolver by her bed after a burglary at a neighboring home several weeks ago.
Smith said she then found the boy hiding and confronted him. "I said, ‘What are you doing in my house?’" Smith said during an interview Monday with WPXI-TV, Channel 11 in Pittsburgh, a news partner with the Herald-Standard. "He just kept saying he didn’t do it."
Smith ordered the teen to turn around and not to run and then had him pick up the telephone and dial 911. She then ordered the boy to give her the telephone after placing the call and she told dispatchers about the intruder.
Officials from 911 stayed on the telephone with Smith as she had the boy lay facedown and spread-eagled on the floor.
Don’t mess with this grandma! Links: Article at Herald Standard by Josh Krysak | Video clip of Alan Jennings of WPXI-TV interviewing LEDA
Jay Leno on How to Fix the Automotive Industry: “It Ain’t That Hard, Folks. Make Better Cars.”
Jay Leno (who has a collection of over 100 automobiles - must be one really large garage) has a simple yet brilliant advice for Detroit carmakers on how to get things back on track: make better cars!
When you get into a high-priced, well-made American car today and
the key is in the ignition, you hear a melodic bong, bong. But when you get in a cheap American car, like a rental, and the key is left in, it goes plink, plink, plink. It’s just horrible. Every time you use the turn signal, it’s like breaking a chicken leg. In order to make the more expensive car more appealing, U.S. companies feel as though they have to dumb down the cheaper car.I believe that, all things being equal, Americans will buy American. It just has to be as good as the competition; it doesn’t have to be better. The classic example is Harley-Davidson. Throughout the ’70s, the motorcycle maker had huge quality-control problems. Then Harley-Davidson said, “Look, let’s take our time. Let’s build fewer bikes. Let’s build them properly, so they don’t leak oil and they’ll run forever.” Harley-Davidson won back the market share it had lost, and it continues to dominate today. Even though the bikes might not be technically superior, they’re bulletproof and they’re American. People will buy American if given the chance.
The Funniest Car Names Ever
The Yamaha Pantryboy, the Honda Life Dunk, the Sbarro Assystem …and there’s more! And I thought the Ford Aspire had a funny name -that was only because I was driving an Achieva at the time. Link -via Digg
The Art of Spider Webs
Dark Roasted Blend has a beautiful collection of photographs featuring spider webs, enhanced by dew, rain, ice, or just in their natural state. Link
(image credit: Evan Leeson)
19 Terrifying Incidents Involving Fish
Steve Irwin’s death is, of course, included in this list of strange fish incidents, as well as the candiru and the poisonous puffer fish. But you’ll also read about bizarre episodes of people being impaled, attacked, strangled, and bludgeoned by fish. Link -Thanks, John Cooper!
(image credit: spakattacks)
Top 10 Whistles of TV, Movies, and Radio
When I first saw the title to this post, I couldn’t think of any whistled themes besides The Andy Griffith Show. I should’ve remembered Bridge Over The River Kwai. The rest I had forgotten or am unfamiliar with, but they are all intriguing. Most have videos. Sadly, Bogie and Bacall are not featured. Link -via Gorilla Mask
5 Insanely Small And Inhabited Private Islands
It might be a dream come true to live on a tiny island with a nice home but no neighbors, but I tend to think about the weather and waves and storms. Still, these five seem to be doing just fine! Link -Thanks, Dave E!
Got Wings?
Today’s Luchtime Quiz at mental_floss tests your knowledge of angels in pop culture, sports, literature, and religion. I scored 80% because I don’t know much about baseball. Link
Caption Monkey 39: Now That’s a Mercedes!
Photo provenance and back story unknown, if you know, please share- Thanks Ricky!
I’m at a loss for words on this one, folks - the car is so … ghettofabulous!
So, for today’s Neatorama and Hobotopia’s Caption Monkey game, maybe you can do better: the funniest caption will win an original Laugh-Out-Loud cartoon by Adam "Ape" Lad" Koford.
Contest rules are darned simple: place your caption in the comment section. One caption per comment, please (you can submit as many funny ones you can think of!)
And be sure to visit Adam’s blog for some fun and inspiring Laugh-Out-Loud cartoons.
Ferrari from the Future
Recently, we have seen both a Go-Kart and Wooden Boat version of the famous Italian sports car, but what will the Ferrari look like in the future? Maybe something like this.
Meet Emily
(YouTube link)
Emily was created by Image Metrics in California, the same company that created the graphics for the game Grand Theft Auto.
“Ninety per cent of the work is convincing people that the eyes are real,” Mike Starkenburg, chief operating officer of Image Metrics, said.
“The subtlety of the timing of eye movements is a big one. People also have a natural asymmetry - for instance, in the muscles in the side of their face. Those types of imperfections aren’t that significant but they are what makes people look real.”
Jon Lajoie and The Mainstream Media.
‘Cause you’re not paid to think, we’re paid to do it for you!
Jon Lajoie (pronounced: lah-jwah) is a frequent contributor to Funny or Die and is a personal favorite of Will Ferrell and Adam Mckay.
Click play or go to Link.
The Waffle Shoes.
These shoes look delicious, don’t you just wanna pour maple syrup all over them?
As seen on Hypebeast.
Jaws in the Saint Lawrence River.
Dominic Arpin reported this past Monday that a white shark was seen in the Saint Lawrence River. The video is actually part of an online campaign for a new TV show called “Légendes Urbaines” on french television station Canal D, their commercial can be seen here.
Fish with two mouths.
Radio-Canada reports that a fish with two mouths has been discovered in Alberta, Canada. You can read more here (French)
(In 2005, a fish with two mouths was found in Holmes Lake near Lincoln, Nebraska.)
Bus Stop + Swing = Playful Spaces
Well, Dubai may have the air-conditioned bus stop but they don’t have this: a swing in a bus stop in London!
Check out more of "Playful Spaces" art project by Bruno Taylor at Wooster Collective: Link [embedded YouTube clip]
Bolivian Wrestling
Photo: Ivan Kashinsky - see more at NatGeo gallery
Forget WWE and Mexico’s lucha libre … the real wrestling action is in Bolivia. Here’s a neat article by Alma Guillermoprieto for the National Geographic Magazine about the cholitas luchadoras or fighting Bolivian beauties:
Like many of the women of Aymara descent in the audience, Yolanda and Claudina are dressed to the nines in the traditional fashion of the Andean highlands: shiny skirts over layers of petticoats, embroidered shawls pinned with filigreed jewelry, bowler hats. Their costumes glisten in the spotlights while they make a regal progress around the bleachers, greeting their public with the genteel smiles of princesses, twirling and waving gracefully until the music stops.
That’s the sign for the two women to swing themselves deftly onto the wrestling ring that has been the focus of this afternoon’s activity. Swiftly they remove their hats, unpin their shawls, and … whap, whap, whap! Claudina belts Yolanda one, Yolanda slaps Claudina, Claudina tries to escape, but Yolanda grabs Claudina by her pigtails and spins her around, and WHAM! Claudina whirls through the air, petticoats and braids flying, and lands flat on her back on the mat, gasping like a fish. The audience goes nuts.
A Windows Lover’s Window
Here’s a window for Windows lover, Fenêtres 3.1 by John Nouanesing, a real window made to look like Microsoft’s classic 3.1 OS version (complete with the "code"shades - or is it just the BSOD?). It’s only a concept for now, probably because efforts to convert it to reality were constantly met with unexplainable crashes: Link
Dalek Wheelchair
Ben Wake lost a leg in a motorcycle accident, so during his rehabilitation, his friends got together to build him … a Dalek wheelchair for him get around!
Burj Dubai
The Burj Dubai tower, the tallest skyscraper in the world, is about to be completed. To celebrate it, David Hobcote has taken a series of amazing high resolution pictures from the air which give an exact impression of the breathtaking, massive scale of this building.
Construction is expected to be completed in August, 2009. See more pictures at Gizmodo. Link -Thanks, kid_icarus!
Tail Walking on the Wild Side
You’ve seen dolphins shimmy along the top of the water balanced on their tails at Sea World or on TV, but the behavior has spread to the ocean!
A wild dolphin is apparently teaching other members of her group to walk on their tails, a behaviour usually seen only after training in captivity.
The tail-walking group lives along the south Australian coast near Adelaide.
One of them spent a short time after illness in a dolphinarium 20 years ago and may have picked up the trick there.
Scientists studying the group say tail-walk tuition has not been seen before, and suggest the habit may emerge as a form of “culture” among this group.
Link -Thanks, Justin!
(image credit: WDCS/Mike Bossley)
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