Image: Hannahdownes
According to the Institute of Food Technologists, eight out of ten adults have made an effort to eat healthier within the last year. Yet trying to eat healthy can be a challenge, given all of the conflicting information out there when it comes to what consists of healthy food choices. It's not surprising that some people give up in frustration, copping a "damned if you do or don't" attitude.
Three noted nutritionists were asked to cite what they deemed some of the most widely believed public misconceptions about healthy foods. One of their points concerned multigrain bread. Some well intentioned shoppers who spot the textural breads advertised as multigrain and select them over other breads think they are choosing the best option. But in fact, "multigrain" simply means that there are two or more grains present in the (pasta or) bread. It has no bearing on how refined the flour base used is. The best choice is 100% whole wheat bread, in which the entire grain kernel has been used; that maximizes its fiber and nutrients.
Read other misconceptions regarding "health food" here.
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Image: Lucasfilm / Twentieth Century Fox
To continue the Star Wars Day party, linked below is a lengthy list of facts about the franchise. One story has to do with Sir Alec Guinness. His attitude toward the material and the series was poor, to understate things. He was quoted as saying that Star Wars was “fairy-tale rubbish,” and made it clear he had no interest in participating in The Empire Strikes Back.
Lucas and the other principal filmmakers were able to get Guinness to come around, yet not without granting him the strict conditions he imposed for his involvement. Guinness would work one day only, a day consisting of exactly 4.5 hours of work, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. In exchange for his 4.5 hours, Guinness would be paid one-fourth of a percent of the total gross of the movie. Thus, Sir Alec made out like a bandit with millions of dollars for a half day of his time.
Read thirty-six other Star Wars stories here.
Imgur user edmcgowan works at a design studio with his brother, and the two decided to see what type of design trouble they could get into by transforming his nephew's room into a Star Wars-themed, kids' dream.
A year ago the uncle and father duo posted a photo of the build in progress. Now they're showing off the finished product: a Millennium Falcon cockpit bed with an AT-AT leg for support. The desk at the side of the bed is a wing and the wall next to the cockpit is made to look like a hangar door, which slides open to reveal a window. It's even equipped with a fan to blow air into the sleeping portion of the ship. She's got it where it counts, kid.
Via Nerdist | Image: edmcgowan on Imgur
Super Mario Kart | Image: Nintendo UK
Who among you remembers having great times playing multiplayer games with friends, dating back to your childhood (or long past)? Even if you're not a gamer today, you probably have memories of having fun with video games at some point. As technology would have it, those incarnations are long gone.
This article mentions 20 multiplayer games from "back in the day" that made for hours and hours of entertainment (and sometimes serious player versus player challenges)! See which ones bring back memories for you. I know I loved Mario Kart in various versions; I also played multiplayer Quake until I couldn't see straight.
One way (particularly in the 1980s and '90s) for budding actors to make a living was to audition for parts in music videos. If they were lucky, the song would be a big hit and they would get a lot of exposure to the valuable younger demographic.
Christina Hendricks' part in the Everclear video shown above is taken from this larger collection of music videos featuring early appearances by now famous celebrities. Included are: Katy Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Channing Tatum, Elijah Wood, Jack Black, Wesley Snipes, Matthew McConaughey, Courteney Cox, Bill Paxton, Paula Abdul, Zach Galifianakis, John Goodman, Angelina Jolie, Phil Hartman, Aaron Paul, Patrick Swayze and RuPaul.
Moscow, Russia based photographer Andrey Yakovlev's series called "Red Haired" is a fashion shoot that perfectly captures the unique, fiery beauty of red-headed women. Shot in today's favored minimalist style, the colors of the clothing against the same color background make for a striking, near monochrome vision.
View Yakovlev's series in its entirety here, and check out his portfolio at Behance.
Via Inspire First | Images: Andrey Yakovlev
Grant Thompson, a/k/a the King of Random, demonstrates how easy it is to free yourself from professional grade handcuffs using only a bent paper clip. Certainly Neatorama readers will only use such information for entertainment purposes and the like. You know, party tricks. Yeah... that's the ticket.
Turn mason jars into portable snack or lunch boxes with the BNTO lid attachment | Available here
There's nothing like spending a relatively small amount for some little gadget that truly makes quicker and easier a task you perform often in your day-to-day life. Our days are complicated enough without doing chores the long or hard(er) way. This article features 33 products, many of which appear to have potential for being useful, handy items. Check them out; hopefully one will strike your fancy.
Image: Chin Tin Tin
Even among the many characters in the music business, Willie Nelson is a personality who stands out. The beloved country musician is certainly a colorful figure, in more ways than one. The article linked below lists ten fun facts about Nelson, including this little gem:
"7. HE WROTE “ON THE ROAD AGAIN” ON A BARF BAG.Nelson’s 1980 hit, “On The Road Again,” was written aboard an airplane—on a barf bag. “I was on an aeroplane with Sydney Pollack and Jerry Schatzberg, who was the director of the movie Honeysuckle Rose,” Nelson recounted to Uncut in 2014. “They were looking for songs for the movie and they started asking me if I had any ideas. I said, ‘I don’t know, what do you want the song to say?’ I think Sydney said, ‘Can it be something about being on the road?’ It just started to click in my head. I said, ‘You mean like, ‘On the road again, I can’t wait to get on the road again?’ They said, ‘That’s great. What’s the melody?’ I said, ‘I don’t know yet.’"
Read more facts about Willie at Mental Floss.
Two-hundred-year-old Saint Louis Cemetery in New Orleans is the burial place of many local luminaries. It's generally difficult to obtain a space in the overcrowded place of rest, but leave it to quirky actor and meme-muse Nicolas Cage to do so. In fact, Cage secured an area that would normally be dedicated to four spaces on which to build the giant white pyramid pictured above.
Read more on Cage's future final resting place, including the controversy surrounding it, at Amusing Planet.
Architect Jeffrey Pelletier's 250,000-piece LEGO collection is impressive, but what's more impressive is the manner in which he organizes it and the fantastic basement space that houses it. Pelletier's neon-colored house covers an incredible basement complete with nine-foot ceilings and a hidden screen for movies. This is one tricked-out LEGO/man cave and it looks like a ton of fun, even if the kids turn out not to like LEGO. -Via Nerd Approved
Carl is a 73-year-old man who heard his beloved Chihuahua whining outside his Placer County, California home one day. When he went outside and discovered that a bear was the source of his dog's fear, Carl didn't give the situation a second thought. Using brawn over brain, he punched the bear in the face. The bear, likely one surprised animal, got the heck outta Dodge. Even bears can sense a guy nobody should mess with. Said Carl of the incident,
"The man or beast that I run from ain't been born, and his momma's already dead... You're not going to sacrifice my babies for some damn bear!"
-Via Arbroath
In this hilarious video, one of these cockatoos is rocking out to Elvis and seems to be doing everything in his power to get his buddy on board. But no amount of his infectious groovin' is going to get his friend movin'. Maybe he's a metal head instead. -Via Arbroath
Photographer Elizabeth Moss created these behind-the-scenes looks at high-end photograph retouching, like the jobs she does for her past clients Vogue, Elle, GQ and Vanity Fair.
In an interview with Peta Pixel, Moss said:
“These videos are unique because none of the high end retouchers make these type of videos, so the quality of the other before and after retouching videos available online are pretty terrible and not at all representative of what is typically done on high fashion editorials and campaigns. With all the talk about photoshop use or overuse, I thought it would be interesting for people to see how we actually add pores to skin (we do this in the 2nd and 3rd videos, sampled from the girl in the first video).”
Check them out. Don't miss the third video — it's an eye opener. -Via Gizmodo
Painting from Pompeii showing a feast during a family banquet or ceremony
With evidence collected from sewers and trash dumps at archaeological sites such as Herculaneum and Pompei, scientists can identify the diet of ancient Romans. The article linked below gives us a glimpse into what foods were enjoyed during those times.
The average Roman ate breakfast (ientaculum) at dawn, light lunch (prandium) around 11:00 am and dinner (cena), as the main meal of the day. Sometimes they also took in a later dinner called vesperna as well. Wealthy Romans ate a bigger cena in the late afternoon, with no vesperna.
"The cena could be a grand social affair lasting several hours. It would be eaten in the triclinium, the dining room, at low tables with couches on three sides. The fourth side was always left open to allow servants to serve the dishes. Diners were seated to reflect their status. The triclinium would be richly decorated, it was a place to show off wealth and status. Some homes had a second smaller dining room for less important meals and family meals were taken in a plainer oikos."
Read about what was on the menu (aside from dormice) here.
Via The Presurfer | Image: Andrew Dalby