Lisa Marcus's Blog Posts

Nine Secret Floors in Buildings Around the World

Hidden bunker at the Greenbrier Resort, West Virginia 

So many historic buildings have fascinating histories and, if their walls could talk as they say, audiences would be transfixed by their secrets. The article linked below lists buildings that have entire floors devoted to purposes that the average visitor isn't privy to. From a cold war-era hideout to a power plant frequented by Nikola Tesla himself, these off-limits areas contain compelling bits of history. Take the floor in the photo above, for example:

3. The Greenbrier Resort, West Virginia 
The Greenbrier is a luxury hotel and resort located amid the mountains of West Virginia. The local waters have been attracting guests since 1778, and the glittering guest list of the hotel, now a National Historic Landmark, has included 26 presidents. But hidden under the glamorous rooms and sprawling grounds is a massive underground complex, codenamed Project Greek Island. During the Cold War, it was built to hold the entire United States Congress in safety—just in case Washington was attacked by a Soviet nuclear strike.

The 112,000-square-foot bunker was big enough to hold both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and came complete with six months’ worth of food, 25-ton blast doors, decontamination chambers, water purification equipment, and its own hospital. The government’s construction of Project Greek Island was covered up by the building of a new west wing added to the existing hotel. To avoid detection, the huge amounts of land unearthed in the creation of the project were used in a new golf course, while the army of workers posed as employees of a fake audiovisual company called the Forsythe Associates, who “maintained” the hotel's 1000 television sets.

Project Greek Island fortunately remained unused, and was never officially acknowledged until a story in the Washington Post in 1992 exposed the secret. Today tours of this remarkable relic of the Cold War are given at the hotel, which still operates as a luxury resort.

Read about more secret floors at mental_floss.


Leaping Lemur


YouTube Link

There isn't any supplemental information to go with this video. Yet what else does anyone really need to know about this bitty beast and his chosen mode of getting from point A to B, affectionately named Parkour Le Lemur by a video commenter? Via Arbroath


Treat Thieving Leonberger Steals the Show at Westminster

The 140th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is generally a purebred, highbrow, no jokes affair. But this leonberger had ideas that didn't center around rigid competition as he went on his run around the show circle. The dog decided to go for the treats in his trainer's pocket, and why not? It was obvious that the handler had other, more important things on his mind that were distracting him. It seemed like the perfect moment for a bit of treat snatching.

Alas, no treats were to be had, nor did he win any awards at the show. But the move made this canine the darling of just about everyone watching. Dubbed the "leonburglar" on social media, he and his antics got some fond responses on platforms such as Twitter, as seen below. Via Mashable

 


Mail Carrier Falls Prey to Turkey Terror


YouTube Link

It looks as if the Massachusetts mailman who went postal over being constantly plagued by wild turkeys along his route isn't alone. A mail carrier in New Jersey actually dialed emergency after his truck was surrounded by wild turkeys who seemed to want a piece of him.

Responding officer Tom Smith of the Hillsdale Police Department handled the situation by sounding the sirens on his police car, which scared the birds off. It remains to be seen whether the mailman  like his Massachusetts counterpart who walks with a stick to keep the turkeys away from him  will graduate to a stronger method of defense. Maybe traveling with stuffing and a convection oven would work? Via Arbroath


What Would Happen if a Baby Elephant Played in Your House? This Video Has the Answers


YouTube Link

Moyo is an orphaned baby elephant at the Wild Is Life animal sanctuary in Zimbabwe who at times is given the run of his kind keeper Roxy's house. As sweet and eager to learn as Moyo is, were I Roxy, I'm not sure I'd do the same after seeing what Moyo does on a quick run through the home. Let's hang out at your place, Moyo, shall we? Via Tastefully Offensive


Bobcat Appears at Door of Home, Dog Won't Have It


YouTube Link

When a bobcat approaches the glass door of an Ontario home in which this dog is an occupant, the canine does his best to show the big cat that it's picked the wrong house. Valiant effort, pup, but I'm glad there's glass in between you and your rival. Via Daily Dot


Donkeys: Underrated Cuties of the Animal Kingdom


Image: kitteh131

Another term for donkey has long been used as a pejorative, targeted at rude, crass and otherwise unpleasant humans. Hardly deserved, as donkeys are actually good natured, cooperative and loving animals. Not to mention cute, as these pictures clearly show. 


YouTube Link

The donkey has been used by man as a pack animal for 5,000 years or more. The approximately 40 million donkeys that inhabit the Earth are spread across the globe and found mostly in underdeveloped countries. Tragically, many of them suffer abuse at the hands of man. 

Image: charitybliss

Image: Blue Iris

To see more adorable donkey pictures, visit this collection. To help abused and neglected donkeys worldwide, consider giving to the Donkey Sanctuary.


50 No-Bake Chocolate Recipes

Coffee Cream Brownie Bites | Image and Recipe: Chocolate Covered Katie

There's nothing like a recipe for something decadent that doesn't involve cooking it. It's the feeling of cheating the chocolate gods of required hard work in exchange for their homemade treasures. The linked article features no less than fifty recipes for no-bake chocolate treats, some of which, as a bonus, have been purposely formulated to use the healthiest possible ingredients. These dishes look delicious enough for your guests to assume you spent hours in the kitchen slaving around a hot stove and oven. 

After the chocoholics are done drooling over the examples above and below, all fifty recipes can be found here.  

Five-Ingredient Chocolate Fudgesicles | Image and Recipe: Chocolate Covered Katie

Nutella Fudge | Image and Recipe: Chocolate Covered Katie 


Ten Fascinating Facts About Black Holes

Artist's rendition of a black hole | Image: Ute Kraus

A black hole in space is a location in which the pull of gravity is so forceful that even light can not get out. Matter compacted into a small space renders gravity's pull so strong. One circumstance in which this can occur is when a star is dying. Without light, black holes are invisible to the eye; scientists locate them with specially equipped telescopes. 

The linked article lists some interesting facts about this phenomenon in space. For example,

7. Time Slows Down Around It

"If you’ve seen Interstellar, you’ll know what happens when you travel near a black hole; time slows down. What is incorrect about the film is that the time dilation would not be quite that extreme.

Time dilation is ultimately affected by gravity, the stronger the gravity, the stronger the time dilation. Also, time only slows down once you get near the black hole, once you pass the event horizon, time would stop."

Read nine more interesting bits of information about black holes in this article.


Six Surprising Realities Of Being Homeless In Hawaii

A homeless man sleeps on Waikiki Beach | Image: Getty

The topic of homelessness has always been controversial, as it's a complex problem and there are vastly varying opinions on how to improve the situation. According to federal government records, the state of Hawaii has a population of 487 homeless per 100,000 people, the nation's highest rate per capita. 

Each state has different policies and laws regarding this issue. In Hawaii, they have some procedures that may surprise people on the mainland. One example, in which two homeless men named Mark and Kenyon give input, follows: 

6. The Government Will Fly the Homeless out of Hawaii

The homeless in Hawaii come from one of three places: locals who've hit hard times, people who moved to Hawaii to get work and lost it, and homeless who have purposely come to Hawaii to avoid cold winters.

Mark came from the second category: "I came to Hawaii with a bartending job waiting for me and $5,000 in my bank account. Within five months, my hotel had laid me off and I was out of my apartment."

Kenyon fell into the third category: "I'd been living either on the street or on a couch all summer and part of the fall in Louisville, [Kentucky,] and I didn't want to face the winter living under an overpass in an upturned shopping buggy. I bit the bullet, sold my Gibson guitar, and flew out to Hawaii. I knew of others who hit rock bottom and stayed on the beach in Hawaii, and I figured if I was going to be homeless this winter, I might as well go to Hawaii."

While Mark and Kenyon both figured on staying in Hawaii for a bit, neither have left -- much like thousands of homeless people from the mainland. A few eventually get out on their own, such as actor Chris Pratt, who was homeless and living on a beach in Hawaii for a year. But he was lucky: Statistically, less than 20 percent of homeless people are Chris Pratt. Unlike many homeless in the U.S. who are transient and go from city to city, once in Hawaii, it's hard to leave. You need a costly plane ride to get out, and whatever money the homeless make goes toward things like food (which, by the way, is 66 percent more expensive in Hawaii). It's hard to ride the rails to Tulsa from the shores of Waikiki.

Fortunately, hobos who want to escape paradise aren't helpless. The Hawaiian government has been flying hundreds of homeless people back to where they came from -- literally taking taxpayer money and flinging the bums away. But only the hobos who volunteer. And since "home" for many of them is a place where freezing to death is a regular concern, they opt to stay in Hawaii.

Mark: "Government workers came by a few times to our small camp with those flights. No one accepted, since going back with virtually nothing for the winter worried everyone. Would we freeze? We were so used to hot weather that suddenly being in 20-degree snow could seriously hurt us."

Read more facts regarding the homeless in Hawaii that may surprise you here. (Contains NSFW language.) 


22 Particularly Positive Celebrity Encounters

John Krasinski with wife Emily Blunt | Image: Getty
 

It can be quite a downer when we have celebrity encounters with people of whom we're big fans, only to have them act like jerks in response to respectful approaches on our end. The linked article highlights celebrity encounters that were exceptionally positive, and thus good news for everyone who appreciatively follows their work. An example involving John Krasinski follows:

1. “My mom had a big crush on John Krasinski. He was filming not too far away from our house, so I took my mom there in hopes of meeting him. His assistant came out to thank a fan for bringing him a gift, saw my mom, and left. Next thing we know, out comes John Krasinski himself. My mom was very obviously in the midst of chemo treatment … She died shortly after, but I am forever grateful to John Krasinski for making my mom so happy in the midst of her battle with cancer.”
-Lia204.

See this collection of 22 positive celebrity encounters in entirety here. 


Violet the Goat's Adventures on the Day She is Born


YouTube Link

At the Catskill Animal Sanctuary lives one criminally cute baby goat named Violet. On her very first day of life, she's pretty much a baby goat rock star. Tiny striped shirts are being sported. Baby goat compatibly sized rocks are being climbed. Kisses are being received. Looks like the first hours of baby goat life at CAS aren't rough ones. Enjoy, little Violet. Via Laughing Squid


A Simple Magic Trick Seems to Blow This Baby's Mind


YouTube Link

In this clip, a baby has an adorable reaction to the classic "now you see it, now you don't" magic trick. Oh, to be so enthralled with a common gesture! To look at life through the eyes of a child is to be in constant wonder. Via Viral Viral Videos


Man Quits Lucrative NYC Job, Builds Treehouse of His "Childhood Dreams"



We've all heard stories of New York City stockbrokers or lawyers who abandon their jobs in favor of a low-stress career and rural lifestyle. It's practically a cliché at this point. Yet Foster Huntington has given this story a modern twist. The twenty-seven year old who worked as a sportswear designer for Ralph Lauren in Manhattan was succeeding by all accounts, able to pay for a pricey Upper West Side apartment and poised for promotion. But Huntington decided that he wasn't interested in clothing. What he wanted was to immerse himself in nature. To travel the country in a way he could connect with the land he traversed. 

Huntington left New York, purchased a van and roamed the country with little direction for three years. To his credit, while practicing this unconventional lifestyle, Huntington's entrepreneurial game and work ethic was strong. He photographed his travels and published several photo books and gained a following on social media, creating the hashtag #vanlife. At that time, Huntington decided he wanted to "settle down." He said in an interview,

"I could’ve bought a house. But this is so much better. For me, it’s realizing a childhood dream."

With the help of hired friends and contractors, Huntington built the treehouse complex shown here. The group of structures, located in western Washington near the Oregon border, consists of two treehouses approximately 200 square feet each; both are equipped with wood stoves. The one pictured above is used as a a sleeping cabin and contains bunk beds. The other is a studio in which Huntington works. The home also has a hot tub with shower and a skate bowl. 

Huntington's home in the trees, which he has dubbed "The Cinder Cone" due to it being situated on a dead volcano, took a year to build. He filmed and photographed the construction and plans to publish the photos in a book; an interesting video documenting the process is below.

Visit this New York Times article for a detailed account of Foster Huntington's adventures and accomplishments. Keep up with Huntington and his treehouse life at The Cinder Cone website.

 
Vimeo Link


Via My Modern Met | Images: Foster Huntington 


Nine of the Most Isolated Towns on Earth

Longyearbyen, Norway | Image: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen 

Have you ever good naturedly teased a friend who lives in an isolated area for "living in the sticks?" Or has anyone accused you of such a lifestyle? If you're in the latter category, take heed: the towns listed in the linked article are the perfect comeback to such a ribbing. There are the proverbial "sticks" and then there are these towns, that make the kind of isolated we have in mind look like it's for wimps.

Let's look at one interesting example, pictured above:

"The Scandinavian town of Longyearbyen is so far north that it’s closer to the North Pole than it is to Oslo, Norway’s capital. The arctic location makes for chilly temperatures year-round and long winters of unbroken darkness. The houses there are built on stilts in order to keep the underlying permafrost from melting beneath them and becoming unstable.

Despite these harsh conditions, Longyearbyen attracts residents from around the world. Of the town’s fewer than 3000 inhabitants, nearly a third of them are foreigners. The community’s greatest appeal is likely its shockingly low crime rate, which is helped by the fact that it's illegal to live in Longyearbyen without a job or a permanent address. (It’s also illegal to die there, because it’s too cold for bodies to decompose.) And while crime is low, gun ownership is unusually high—but this is primarily to protect against the threat of polar bears. The danger is such an issue that the police enforce a law that anyone straying outside the city limits must carry a weapon and know how to use it."

Feeling lonely yet? A bit removed? Check out more of the most isolated towns on Earth at mental_floss.


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Profile for Lisa Marcus

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