Have you had your flu shot? What I thought was a spate of post-Christmas colds turned out to be the worst flu season in recent history. The most common advice you hear for avoiding the flu is to get a shot and wash your hands often. I've found that working at home alone and not having children in elementary school is even more effective, but that's not something you can arrange at the last minute. So if you find yourself unable to get out of bed, keep your laptop or mobile device handy. Our constant updates here at Neatorama will help you pass the time until you're able to get back to your everyday activities. Here's what you need to catch up on from this past week.
Actor and pop culture historian Eddie Deezen marked Elvis Presley's birthday on Tuesday with Love Me Tender: Elvis Presley's First Film.
The on Friday, he gave us The Only #1 Song Recorded by a Father and Daughter.
The most-viewed post of the week was On Yawning; or, The Hidden Sexuality of the Human Yawn, from the Annals of Improbable Research. It was picked up by the British tabloid The Daily Mail, although I never could find what they said about it.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader contributed Satchmo, the story of Louis Armstrong.
And mental_floss magazine gave us the story of Waropoly: How History’s Most Popular Board Game Helped Defend The Free World.
Over at Neatorama's subblogs, we had plenty of treats that did not appear here on the main page. At Lifestyles of the Cute and Cuddly, we saw a wolverine pull a man out of an avalanche and a cat with a 100-decibel purr, among over cute videos.
At Mad Skills, we watched some amazing archery and basketball stunts as well as a goofy human beatboxing video.
And believe it or not, the Halloween blog continues to have the most new stuff you won't find on the main page. That's where you'll see the best (and worst) cosplayers, horror videos, and silly stuff that might in some way fit in with Halloween.
This week's What Is It? game featured a mystery item that turned out to be a harness cutting machine that was made by The International Harness Manufacturing Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio. The first with the correct answer was ladybugs, who wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! The funniest answer was from MEM, who said. "It's a heavy-metal harpsichord; very heavy-metal." That's good for a t-shirt, too! See the answers to all this week's mystery items at the What Is It? blog.
The post with the most comments this week was Gold Shirt. No other posts generated much back-and-forth, but we had one real gem worth passing along as "comment of the week." In reply to a score posted on the cheese quiz, Alan...yes THAT Alan said, "That score isn't very gouda. Surely it's nacho best attempt."
Now if you've got your new 2013 calendar on your wall or desk already, notice that Valentine's Day is only a month away. Every day, the NeatoShop is getting in more new and different Valentine gift items to give to someone you love, even if that someone is yourself!