This video finds the guys at Dude Perfect parodying types of personalities, both patron and server, that are commonly seen at restaurants. I think a lot of these ring true. As someone who usually sticks to water over any other liquid refreshment at restaurants, my favorite has to be the "ambitious refiller." What do you think? Are they missing anyone? Via 22 Words.
Tokyo-based filmmaker Hiroshi Kondo takes footage of the lights in his hometown and transforms it into a luminous, kaleidoscopic display. This Vimeo Staff Pick, entitled Eye Know, features music by composer Ayako Taniguchi. Via Colossal.
A limitation of the first phone lines in the late 1800s was that there had to be a line for each phone, which was connected to an exchange. Each call was then manually connected by an operator. Thus, the necessary lines were held by towers that looked like fibers connected to a loom.
These vintage photos show the Telefontornet, the telephone exchange tower in Stockholm, Sweden. A typical configuration, it was fraught with risks of danger from storms, fires and other calamities. By 1913, phone technology had progressed to the point that the Telefontornet was no longer used, though the tower stood until 1953 when it caught fire.
See more photos by browsing the collection at Stockholm's Museum of Technology, Tekniska Museet. Via Colossal.
Images: Tekniska Museet
One would think bananas are kitty kryptonite the way a lot of them react so negatively to the sight of the fruit. What causes this cat named Vaappu to recoil in horror whenever he sees a banana? Who knows? But it's hilarious. Via Tastefully Offensive.
If your phone was hacked, would there be any embarrassing pictures there to steal?
Last week, a thread was started on 4chan by a poster claiming to be a hacker in possession of celebrity nude photos. The poster claimed the images were acquired through hacking various celebrities' phones and electronics, and said they would be leaked on Sunday, 8/31.
As promised, on Sunday, images of partial and fully nude celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton were posted at 4chan. An angry Lawrence confirmed the pictures were authentic by releasing a statement saying she would prosecute the offender(s) if they were caught. Publicity of the scandal continues, although no one has been charged with the crime.
Twitter users found some humor in the incident, which launched the hashtag #IfMyPhoneGotHacked. The Twitter comedy brigade joined in the fun wholeheartedly. Shown here are a few of their posts. See the rest at Uproxx.
The Guardian has published a chapter from a draft of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that wasn't published in the book. This is the second time an unused piece from Dahl's celebrated children's book has been published. The first, entitled "Spotty Powder," involved a girl named Miranda Piker. That chapter was published by the The London Times in 2005 and was featured on Neatorama. Dahl took the time to write it backwards, in "mirror writing." It remains a mystery as to why.
The latest chapter is called "The Vanilla Fudge Room." An excerpt follows:
"They went into another cavernous room, and here again a really splendid sight met their eyes. In the centre of the room there was an actual mountain, a colossal jagged mountain as high as a five-storey building, and the whole thing was made of pale-brown, creamy, vanilla fudge. All the way up the sides of the mountain, hundreds of men were working away with picks and drills, hacking great hunks of fudge out of the mountainside; and some of them, those that were high up in dangerous places, were roped together for safety.
As the huge hunks of fudge were pried loose, they went tumbling and bouncing down the mountain, and when they reached the bottom they were picked up by cranes with grab-buckets, and the cranes dumped the fudge into open waggons – into an endless moving line of waggons (rather like smallish railway waggons) which carried the stuff away to the far end of the room and then through a hole in the wall."
Read the passage in entirety at The Guardian.
Image: Offical Roald Dahl Website
Image: Vivian Wan
Thailand's Wat Rong Khun or "White Temple," featured previously on Neatorama in a 2007 article on unique temples, is a glorious sight to behold. This breathtaking Buddhist temple in Chiang Rai province was erected in 1997 and designed by acclaimed Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat. The structure is embellished with mirrored tiles and mosaics.
Wat Rong Khun sustained extensive damages in the May 5, 2014 earthquake in northern Thailand, which registered 6.0 on the Richter scale, killed one person and injured dozens of others. At that time, the temple was closed indefinitely for repairs. Kositpipat was quoted in the past as saying "Only death can stop my dream, but cannot stop my project."
See more photographs of Wat Rong Khun here.
Image: reddit
Image: Maya
Image: Ying Tong Low
Benny the English bulldog isn't just your average Joe Pup. He has fans. And Instagram followers. His future's so bright he's gotta wear shades. Or, better yet, he can play peekaboo to escape the glare of the spotlight. Even doggie stars need a little solitude to save their sanity. Via Laughing Squid.
First featured on Neatorama in 2007, this video classic by digital artist and St. Louis, Missouri native Philip Scott Johnson is once again making the rounds online, for good reason. Fine art lovers are sure to enjoy this video of famous female portraits from some of the most revered painters over the past 500 years. The feminine faces morph into each other in a hypnotic sequence. From the Italian Renaissance to Impressionism to Surrealism, Johnson's video has a portrait for practically every art enthusiast to love, regardless of their preferred movement. See how many you recognize and then verify your guesses here.
This video compilation features cat who are being pounced upon by exuberant puppies. Mostly the cats are surprisingly tolerant with the inquisitive, playful pups, sometimes joining in with the roughhousing. Via Tastefully Offensive.
With the advent of budget-friendly, tiny cameras such as GoPro, animal videos have changed from hit-or-miss action to immediate or animal's-eye view perspective. The footage is only limited by the imagination of the person who captures it. Examples abound in GoPro's Best of Animals 2014 compilation video. This is part two. See part one here. Via The Presurfer.
These moiré patterned paintings by Anoka Faruqee are mesmerizing displays of color that almost appear to be moving, depending on the viewer's perspective. Moiré is two or more sets of lines or dots superimposed so that they intersect and create undulating optical effects. This Michigan native and Yale professor of art does amazing things with the technique. Faruqee commented on the paintings in a recent interview:
"While these paintings draw from tradition, these paintings are not traditional. The paintings speak to an industrial/digital logic. The notched trowels I use have the logic of the screen embedded within them: it is an on/off binary system: notch/tooth, notch/tooth. Wielding the tool is like holding the screen in your hand. The paintings aim to approximate not only the surface of the screen, but also the structure of the screen. The programming behind the screen is intimated by the trowel as well as a growing set of prosthetic devices emerging in the studio.
Moiré itself is a self-generating phenomena: the layers of patterns self-sort as they overlay and interfere with one another. The paintings thus they have a life and mind of their own. They are not images of interference: they are interference. This is the wonder and anxiety that much of contemporary life provokes: a hint of animation and sentience inside the technology."
See additional pieces and read more of the above-quoted interview with Faruqee here.
A Japanese festival called "Shukatsu Festa" has been increasing in popularity in the past several years, this year attracting 5,000 people. "Shukatsu," English translation being "preparing for one's end," is the main idea of the festival, during which people select coffins. Participants try out the coffins of their choice, complete with funeral attire, flowers and optional makeup simulating the skin tone of a corpse. At that point, these death adventurers are photographed, so they have an idea of how they may appear at their funeral. Some choose to have the coffin lid lowered while they lie inside, to seal the deal.
What, no gory scar makeup? Read more here. Image Credit: Miako Ichikawa/Asahi.
Van Gogh's Starry Night
Night shift barista Michael Breach became a self-taught "coffee artist" in his abundance of spare time on the job. Breach estimates that he's done more than 400 different designs, some of which he bestowed with clever names. Gaining popularity via internet media, Instagram and Twitter, Breach even makes portraits by request, as shown below. Visit Breach's website, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with his particular brand of caffeinated creativity. Via Viral Nova.
"Java the Hutt"
"Doctor Brew"
Nelson Mandela
Portrait done by request
Ah, coffee. For some, it's a daily necessity. Most coffee drinkers would say that after their first cup of coffee in the morning, they're feeling much better than when they awoke. Specifically how does that happen? AsapSCIENCE has the answer to that and other burning coffee questions.
