Often animals do things that relate to human behavior so well that it feels like we're more alike than different. There could be no better example than an animal who is awakened before he feels he's had sufficient sleep. Who among us doesn't know the feeling?
In this clip, Ryer the otter is awakened by one of his humans. It may not necessarily be a rude awakening, but that isn't the issue. This otter needs more shut-eye, and he's not afraid to say so in his grouchiest Otter Speak. Via Daily Dot
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What would you do if you found out that the closest-to-reality version of your dream house was on the market, you had the funds to purchase it, but a grisly murder (or several) had taken place there? Would you disregard any possible "bad vibes" and lay your money down? Would you make the deal, thinking the complex history would be a great conversation piece or might inspire dark creative forces? The latter is what Nine Inch Nails frontman and founder Trent Reznor did in the early 1990s, when he bought 10050 Cielo Drive (pictured above).
Otherwise known as a murder site chosen by Charles Manson, the sprawling ranch house in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles was rented by film director Roman Polanski and was where his wife Sharon Tate and five others were brutally stabbed and killed. As the world eventually learned during the trial, on August 9, 1969, members of Manson's “family” showed no mercy as the pregnant Tate and her friends begged for their lives. Manson instructed his followers to make the scene “as gruesome as you can,” and they complied dutifully, stabbing Tate sixteen times and writing "Pig" on the door of the house with her blood.
Perhaps to convince the public that the house could still be a homey and viable property, Hollywood agent Rudy Altobelli, the owner of the house, moved in several weeks after the murders and lived there for 20 years. Altobelli eventually sold the house for $1.6 million.
The last resident to inhabit 10050 Cielo Drive was Trent Reznor. He had a recording studio built there, which he named “Le Pig” after the Manson family's bloody scrawls. Reznor recorded The Downward Spiral there as well, which happens to have two tracks with the word "Pig" in their titles.
After a chance encounter and conversation with Sharon Tate's sister in which she asked Reznor if he was exploiting her sister's death, Reznor had a change of heart about the house and soon sold it. In the year following the sale, the house was razed. A new mansion, given different Cielo Drive address numbers, was built in its place.
As Miss C. said in her post about the official poster, just released this evening is the official trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I present this baby without comment. What do you think?
The much awaited film is set for release on December 18 of this year.
Image: Feureau
How bad can a mistakenly sent text message to the wrong person get? Who would be able to supply you with multiple answers better than Redditors? As you can imagine, when one asks for cringeworthy submissions on just about any topic, the Reddit community has cringeworthy covered.
The linked thread requested Redditors' mortifying stories with regard to accidentally sent text messages. Here are some SFW examples:
“Texted ‘Get Chipotle’ to my bedridden grandmother.” - JarlBarker
“Texted a woman I work with “Come upstairs to bed, I miss you” instead of my wife.” - ThrakkerZog
“About a year ago, a friend of mine accidentally sent a d*ck pick to our varsity football coach with that caption “You want? ;)”. Coach casually responded with a no and left it at that.” - BrothaBudah
"‘Yeah get the boat ready, I just told my boss I was sick and won’t be in today.’ To my boss. It is worth noting that my boss was cool about it and responded with ‘bass fever huh?'" - Rottinguy
See more awkward texts sent by accident on this Reddit thread. (Many answers are NSFW.) Via Uproxx
Bilbo the nine-week-old corgi is facing down one of his first true puppy challenges: a mini pumpkin. What's a corgi pup to make of this bumpy, stripey orange meddler? Suspicion is certainly warranted. Giving the offending intruder a number of "I mean business" barks is appropos as well. Way to go, baby Bilbo!
Baby koala Imogen at Symbio Wildlife Park in Helensburgh, New South Wales, Australia was being filmed as she was introduced into a newly built koala sanctuary. At first Imogen tested out one of the trees in her new enclosure, but she quickly realized that she didn't want to stray too far from the love of her nearby humans. The joey quickly went from climbing the tree to climbing the cameraman for a hug.
Don't miss this adorable video of Imogen being hand raised by Symbio keepers Kylie Elliot and Matt Radnidge here. Via Daily Dot
Security camera in Colorado cannabis shop | Image: User O'Dea
Movie and television shows are commonly critcized for their "Hollywood" presentations of certain issues and situations. If something in a film or television program is too far off the reality mark, there is generally backlash from the viewing public. One realm that is difficult to acurately portray in media presentations is computers and technology. There's never enough time in a movie or TV show for sufficient explanations of computer oriented tasks, nor to portray the length of time they typically take.
The article linked below lists five of the biggest technology myths perpetuated by TV and filmmakers, according to experts. The first myth cited regards security camera footage. To quote the article,
The Technique: “Cleaning Up” Security Footage
The Myth: “Magnifying/enhancing” recordings can show police a detailed shot of a perp’s face.
As Seen In: Ocean's Eleven, NCIS
The Expert: Trevor Newton, sales director for Tyco Security, a company that makes surveillance cameras and equipment
The Reality: “We call it the ‘CSI effect,’” Newton says. “Because whenCSI first came out, we’d go do a presentation, and people were like, 'Wow, I should be able to get these cool things,' and we have to be like, ‘No, that's not really reality.’ On TV, a casino, for example, can digitally zoom in and do all these magic things — and then suddenly, they can see a person's reflection in a spoon. That's not possible. [HD video] is about the number of pixels you're recording; like a still photo, you can only zoom in so much. And there's no way to fix that [afterward].”But do they make cameras that are high-definition enough to catch the killer in a spoon’s reflection? Well, yes — but also no.
“Right now, technology doesn't allow those high-megapixel cameras to actually stream that information fast enough,” Newton explains. “There are different factors here. One is: How many pixels do I have? Then, how fast can that information be relayed back to the system to record it? It's really like trying to eat an elephant — when you have too much information, how fast can you actually eat that? How many frames can I swallow when there are so many pixels? With high-megapixel cameras, usually the frames per second is a lot slower. You can get a lot of information, but it won’t be fluid on the screen. In the case of real-life casinos, they kept analog cameras for a long time [because] they have regulations; security cameras need a certain frame rate for the fluidity. There are cameras that can stream faster, but they can’t use them because the images won’t be high-enough resolution.”
Read about the other biggest tech myths perpetuated by television and movies here.
One wonderful trait of dogs is their ability to sense when humans need comfort and respond appropriately. If I cry, my two dogs immediately come to my side and cuddle up next to me. Such a reaction is common with pet dogs. Baron the German Shepherd is no different: when he gets the message that his human has "had a long day," he immediately reacts in a way that will comfort her. So what if he hits her up for a favor at the end? He's done his duty. Via Viral Nova
Los Angeles-based artist Lili Chin (featured previously at Neatorama) created posters entitled "Doggie Language" and "Cat Language." The prints illustrate various physical stances of canines and felines and offer interpretations of their meanings. Chin's "Doggie Language" print is done with a personal touch, as it stars her own Boston terrier named Boogie.
The artist's ascribed meanings to each pet posture were done with the input of professionals. For instance, the "Cat Language" poster was created using advice from staff at the Oregon Humane Society. Chin offers free downloads of these two posters and other illustrations on this page of her website. Visit the link to see the full versions of each poster as well as to check out Chin's other work. Via Design Taxi
As a culture, we're so accustomed to seeing people engaged with phones and tablets as we walk around in public, we don't give these frequent sights a second thought. Artist and photographer Eric Pickersgill decided to provoke people into giving these familiar scenes a second look by photographing them and removing the electronic devices. This seemingly insignificant photo editing tweak gives the images just the right "jolt" needed for the viewer to reflect on the true oddity of the situation. Pickersgill's resulting photo series, some of which is pictured here, is called Removed.
The photographer's inspiration was a sight he saw at a diner one day. He wrote of the scene,
"Family sitting next to me at Illium café in Troy, NY is so disconnected from one another. Not much talking. Father and two daughters have their own phones out. Mom doesn’t have one or chooses to leave it put away. She stares out the window, sad and alone in the company of her closest family. Dad looks up every so often to announce some obscure piece of info he found online. Twice he goes on about a large fish that was caught. No one replies. I am saddened by the use of technology for interaction in exchange for not interacting. This has never happened before and I doubt we have scratched the surface of the social impact of this new experience. Mom has her phone out now."
See the entire photo series and read more of Pickersgill's thoughts at his website.
Via Refinery 29 | Images: Eric Pickersgill
Auntie Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzel bites | Image: Cooking Classy
The linked collection of recipes at PopSugar includes instructions — 27, to be exact — for fast food favorites recreated by food bloggers. While they won't be exactly the same as the fast food versions, they may even be superior, in terms of being lighter in calories. See all 27 recipes here.
Jamba Juice Carribean Passion Smoothie | Image: Culinary Hill
Arby's Classic Beef n' Cheddar | Image: PopSugar Photography
From the video series “Seeker Stories” comes this clip on Fly Geyser, a natural feature at the edge of Nevada's Black Rock Desert. This gloriously colored formation was accidentally created when workers for the power company excavated too deeply, releasing sulfuric water and forming a mini mountain of limestone. Thermophilic algae that feed on the released minerals create the brilliant colors. Via Laughing Squid
Mugshot of Albert Fish, 1903 | Image: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Documentary film is my favorite genre, and the linked list of ten documentaries compiled by mental_floss writer Sarah Watt ranges from unsettling to positively horrifying. I've seen all of these films and I found the most disturbing on the list by far to be the 2007 film Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation. Based on the life of deranged serial killer and cannibal Albert Fish, the video is only for those interested in true crime and aren't "faint of heart," as the saying goes. The film incorporates graphic, repulsive confessions from Fish, vintage clips and photographs as well as creepy reenactments. Even the narrator sounds sinister.
Other seriously disturbing runner-ups on the list include Dear Zachary (2008), a frightening story of murder and madness, and the 2011 HBO documentary There's Something Wrong With Aunt Diane, about the mystery surrounding what prompted a usually responsible, accomplished woman to carelessly cause the deaths of six people, four of whom were children from her own family.
Read more about the ten haunting documentaries on this list at mental_floss. But beware: it's likely that you won't soon (or ever) forget some of these stories.
We all tend to feel comfortable when we know we're among friends, and this meerkat is no different. She's surrounded by friends, and so comfortable that she's downright sleepy — even if her friends are of the stuffed variety. Stuffed friends make for wonderful pillows, do they not? (We'll need to ask that question of another cute creature, because this one's pretty much out cold.) Via Laughing Squid
You know those days when you're definitely NOT in the mood to go to the gym? Or to go jogging, or on a brisk walk? When the couch and the remote control are calling your name ever so seductively? Well here's a pup who will understand the plight of anti-exercisers everywhere.
For some reason or another, this English bulldog's human thinks he should walk on the treadmill. But it's safe to say that the dog's not liking the idea whatsoever. I wonder what would happen if he went outside and saw a squirrel dart past him? Via Laughing Squid
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