As the year comes to a close, we'll see many lists of the best things of 2024. Movie fans always look forward to Sleepy Skunk's annual look back at the movies that grabbed us over the last twelve months. Louis Plamondon, better known as Sleepy Skunk, used clips from movie trailers to weave together a narrative of the stories we watched in 2024.

The first segment has bizarre and funny clips, whether they were typical of the film or not, gradually sliding into some violence and horror. The middle section has dramatic, emotional, and inspirational moments. Then it seamlessly segues into epic scenes for a big finish. The video as a whole will touch you even if you haven't seen these films. If you have, get ready to be emotionally wrung out as it takes you back to the theater experience. Contains NSFW language. -via Geeks Are Sexy

See also: Sleepy Skunk's year-end compilations from previous years.

Sometimes it only takes one person to start something big. There was no ballet in Nigeria until Daniel Ajala watched an American movie. He was inspired to learn ballet, but without any teachers, he did it on his own by watching YouTube videos.

In America, successful ballet dancers start very young, have their choice of dance schools, and get opportunities to perform in front of audiences. In Nigeria, the public is rather unfamiliar with the art, and many think it's downright scandalous. But hard work, passion, and dedication wins out over lack of resources. Ajala opened his own ballet school in Lagos, Leap of Dance Academy, which charges no tuition. His students are going to places all over the world. Meet a few of them in the award-winning documentary Then Comes The Body by Jacob Krupnick. Another student named Anthony Madu who went viral in 2020 is attending school in the UK and is the subject of a full-length documentary on Disney+.  -via kottke

How do you get a drink when you're stuck on a ship or at a remote base during wartime? In World War II, American sailors improvised and drank "torpedo juice." They got it from real torpedos, which were propelled by 180-proof ethyl alcohol. That's pretty powerful, even when mixed with fruit juice. It didn't taste good, but it was tolerable for sailors who had no other option. Sometimes it was taken directly from a torpedo, and sometimes a barrel of the fuel was "lost" between a supply depot and a ship. When the Navy began to add extra ingredients to torpedo fuel to discourage drinking it, innovative sailors would filter them out, or even re-distill it.

Still, some sailors died from consuming torpedo juice, either from alcohol poisoning or from the toxins used to adulterate it. In at least one instance, it saved a life when a ship's pharmacist had to perform emergency surgery. In 1943, electric torpedos were introduced, but the name torpedo juice stuck around to denote any contraband or manufactured alcohol in the military. Read about the use of torpedo juice in World War II at the Anchorage Daily News. -via Boing Boing

(Image credit: US Air Force)

The Weinermobile is an iconic lord of the American road--an iron steed craved by drivers for generations. Now you can drive it. MSN reports that Oscar Meyer is hiring drivers.

The salary is underwhelming at a mere $35,000 per year. But it comes with benefits and a travel allowance. And there is a lot of traveling involved; the driver is expected to bring the hot dog-shaped vehicle to over 200 promotional events around the United States.

The requirements are surprisingly demanding. Applicants should have a bachelor's degree, preferably in something like marketing and public relations. That's because this is an advertising position, so it's no place for an introvert. You've got to sell those hot dogs!

-via Dave Barry | Photo: Oscar Meyer

The first movie in the newly-created series called the DC Universe is titled simply Superman, but will be known in the future as James Gunn's Superman. The writer, director, and producer is also the co-CEO of DC Studios. The DCU is said to be intended as a "soft reboot" of the less-than-stellar movies in the DC Extended Universe like Man of Steel or Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Superman will star David Corenswet as Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor.

The trailer begins with a beat-up Superman, as if someone has thrown a chunk of kryptonite at him. But who's there to save the day? Krypto! Yes, this movie will have a dog, and that makes it a hit among other Superman films right out of the starting gate. While Superman will obviously battle Lex Luthor, the stated premise of the film is Clark Kent's journey in reconciling his alien origins with his Kansas upbringing. We will find out more when Superman opens in theaters on July 11, 2025. -via Metafilter

Traditional folklore in pagan Sweden was full of fairies, elves, sprites, sirens, and other supernatural creatures of the forest. Occasionally, humans would meet these fairies and be charmed into sex. Women who gave birth to babies with an unusual appearance were accused of such fornication, and there were cases of men who used seduction by fairy as an excuse for their absence from their military duties. No doubt some accounts were the result of dreams or mental illness, or cover for actual trysts with strangers. Or animals.

Things changed when Christianity spread to Sweden in the Middle Ages. Christian authorities maintained that there was no such thing as fairies, and those who experienced such sexual encounters were obviously cavorting with the devil, which was illegal. The question at a fairy sex trial would be whether the accused was guilty of sorcery for dealing with the devil, or a victim of the demon's crimes. The conclusion was usually guilt. Then eventually, the witch trial craze reached Sweden, and that country furiously executed around 300 people between 1668 and 1676.

Sweden in the 17th century was a clash between the mostly benign pagan belief in fairy folk, the medieval Christian stance on good vs. evil, and the emerging field of science. Read about Sweden's fairy sex trials at Atlas Obscura.

(Image credit: John Bauer)

Hanukkah doesn't start until the evening of December 25th, but we already have two a cappella holiday songs using the tunes from the Broadway musical turned hit movie Wicked. The movie is already the fourth biggest film of 2024 (expected to be third after this weekend) and has grossed more than any other Broadway musical adaptation, surpassing Grease. Above you have The Maccabeats (previously at Neatorama) singing about Hanukkah to the tune of "Defying Gravity." Their song is titled "Defying Gravity (We’ll Rise Above)."

The other Jewish a cappella group from New York City, Six13 (previously at Neatorama) also released their song for Hanukkah 2024. It's a medley of two songs from Wicked with new lyrics, beginning with "Defying Gravity," rewritten as "Defining Destiny," plus "Popular." If you want to sing along, the lyrics are here.



It's not the first time the two a cappella groups have latched onto the same pop culture phenomenon for Hanukkah. In 2016, both groups did song parodies using the musical Hamilton. Because everyone was singing songs from Hamilton.

The winter solstice has been marked as the starting point of a new year for thousands of years all over the globe. Even more commonly, it was seen as the turnaround point for the sun, when the darkness stops expanding and the days begin to get longer. That's something to celebrate! While December 21st is often called midwinter, we consider the beginning of winter, because the earth's temperatures lag behind the number of sunlight hours. In Japan, the solstice is celebrated by taking a hot bath with citrus fruit. In Peru, they read the coca leaves. In Iran, they stay up all night to welcome back the sun.

Most winter solstice celebrations around the world involve lighting up the long night, special rich foods, singing, dancing, and drinking, because those are things that just go with winter festivals. Read about ten traditional winter solstice celebrations from around the world at Mental Floss. They include a couple of festivals that are celebrated in June, because they are in the Southern Hemisphere.    

(Image credit: garethwiscombe)

For many New Yorkers, and tourists, too, Christmas just isn't Christmas without a trip to the Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn (previously at Neatorama). Practically every home is festooned with Christmas lights and decorations to the max. It's not an organized event, but a neighborhood custom that grew organically since Lucy Spata moved there in 1986 and decorated her home in a very festive way. Over time, her Christmas spirit spread from house to house. It's not a competition, either, but each neighbor wants to be a part of the Christmas cheer. The area's reputation grew until entrepreneurs now offer walking tours and bus tours through Dyker Heights between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Great Big Story went to Dyker Heights to talk to the people who live there and spend all year planning their Christmas displays. Their homes are well-decorated inside, too! They admit it's hectic during the season with all those people coming to see their houses, but it's a merry kind of hectic. -via Laughing Squid

Scientists have determined that modern humans (Homo sapiens) migrated out of Africa several times and then died out in Europe and the Middle East before they could populate the world. New DNA studies indicate that a migration of modern humans left Africa about 48,000 years ago and finally thrived in Europe, because they interbred with Neanderthals. However, that population died out after a few thousand years, and so did the Neanderthals. But their descendants had already moved on to Asia and other parts of the world where they survived. Eventually, these later generations migrated back to Europe.

Along the way, Homo sapiens genes became dominant, with only traces of DNA from Homo neanderthalensis remaining. But that DNA must have been crucial to survival, possibly allowing humans to resist disease. Of course, this theory doesn't say anything about the modern humans who stayed in Africa. Most sub-Saharan Africans don't carry any Neanderthal DNA. But without Neanderthal DNA, humans might even today be restricted to the African homeland. Read more about this discovery in an article from the BBC.  -via Damn Interesting

(Image credit: hairymuseummatt/DrMikeBaxter)

Once upon a time in America, it was fairly common for churches to have a bowling alley in their basements. They were most common in the Midwest and parts of the Northeast. And why not? They provided a place for young people to meet and have fun, a wholesome activity for families, and were an alternative to parishoners hanging out in gambling dens. Some were a way to get around local liquor laws, since Christian denominations vary widely in their stances on drinking.

The first church bowling alleys were built in the 1860s and served as community gathering places for German immigrants. The trend peaked during the 1940s and '50s, when bowling was something everyone did. But those basement alleys were mostly dismantled in the 1980s and '90s. That means that the less than 200 that remain are mostly time capsules of retro design and ambience. Messy Nessy Chic takes us through the history of church basement bowling, and shares a list of quite a few that you can still visit today. 

(Image credit: Chris Yunker)

Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting composed sometime during 1495 through 1498 is one of the most seminal works of Western art. It is memetic and has inspired many other pieces of art, both reverent and humorous. Eric Braverman of Douglas, Arizona has collected pieces inspired by The Last Supper since the age of 12. AZ Central reports that, in 2021, he opened a private museum showcasing some of the 2,500 works in his collection.

It's called Last Supper Museum. The facility is open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays.

Many of the works are humorous, of course, replacing Jesus and his disciples with figures from popular culture. Other, such as this modernist version on metal, reflect the gravity of the biblical story.

Some pieces have novel concepts. We've played with ships in bottles, right? But what about a Last Supper in a bottle?

You can see photos of other examples from Braverman's museum here.