This Swedish kitty named Mine has been subjected to the cone of shame after having surgery, but she has no shame in her game. Mine quickly figures out a way to make the cone work for her. By the end of the footage, she owns the cone, and her whistle is whetted. Via Laughing Squid
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Since it's Christmas (and in collusion with Arbroath), I'll imagine that these two Colorado white tail bucks going through rutting season are actually reindeer at the North Pole, fighting for the right to lead Santa's backup sleigh (helmed by senior-level elves). In the end, the two run off, since one elf decides that they can both be on the sleigh team. It sure is fun, living in my delusional yet festive Christmas day bubble! Via Arbroath
Huge thanks to #StarWars star @HamillHimself for visiting us last week! Here he is getting a check-up from Oscar. pic.twitter.com/XIAId0EIIT
— GOSH (@GreatOrmondSt) December 22, 2015
In the photo above, Hamill gets a "check-up" from 3-year-old Finlay Laurence, who is in the hostpital awaiting a kidney transplant.
Mark Hamill recently showed that he has his priorities straight when he decided that he knew of a more important personal appearance he could make than one on UK talk show Graham Norton to promote Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Instead of promoting a film in need of no promotion, Hamill opted to visit London’s Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. (The actor also made a similar appearance in the United States at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles).
Hamill told the Evening Standard regarding his last minute schedule change,
“Rather than going on TV chat shows, I would rather give back somehow by going to hospitals. I want to do more of that. It feels wonderful. It can be harrowing emotionally because your heart goes out to these children but it’s also very uplifting. You walk away thinking that being an actor is so trivial compared to helping needy children.”
Read more on this story and see additional photos at the Evening Standard. Via Uproxx
Star Wars' Mark Hamill skipped chat show appearance to visit Great Ormond Street https://t.co/FIeIVxA2EY pic.twitter.com/BmVATmzyy4
— Metro (@MetroUK) December 23, 2015
In this, one of his "Sensei Series" of instructional videos, Canadian Steve Onotera, a/k/a the samuraiguitarist, provides some simple and practical advice on how those who play instruments can increase their sense of rhythm. Onotera explains his tips thoroughly and provides links to each in the YouTube video information. Those interested in further instruction from Onotera can keep up with him via social media on Facebook and Twitter, as well as visiting his website. Via Laughing Squid
Comic artist Gemma Correll gives us a behind-the-scenes glance at Santa's worldwide search for a new reindeer to bear some of the yearly load. The above likely won't be a shock to anyone who has ever been put in charge of hiring personnel. Good people (and reindeer) are hard to find.
Visit Gemma's Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook as well to see more of her work.
This Star Wars casting footage shows a young Harrison Ford, with few acting credits to his name, reading for the role of Han Solo and essentially killing it. At the time, Ford had more experience as a stagehand and carpenter than an actor. The previous role that enabled Ford to even be in the casting room was George Lucas’ American Graffiti. I imagine the vast majority of fans of the franchise have no doubt that Ford was the perfect choice for Han; for anyone with doubts, check out Kurt Russell’s read for the role. Via Uproxx
The Australian mining city of Coober Pedy (previously featured at Neatorama) is fascinating in that should you drive in, you might think it was a ghost town. Yet actually the outback town, rich with opal deposits, is located almost entirely underground. That's certainly OK with residents who, if it weren't for their subterranean escapes, would face regular, sweltering temperatures up to 125 degrees fahrenheit.
The land above ground may be more of a stranger to locals, but it's been used as the backdrop for several beloved movies, including Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
In this footage filmed by Great Big Story, a resident gives viewers a look at his underground quarters, as well as that of other spaces, both private and public. Via Laughing Squid
Ludwig Van Beethoven | Image: Joseph Karl Stieler
Brendan Ryan is a musician as well as a professional appraiser. In his job with Butterscotch Auction Gallery in Bedford, New York, he visits people in their homes to appraise items at the owners' requests.
When he visited the home of a client in Greenwich, Connecticut over the summer, Ryan caught sight of something that had him "bouncing off the walls," he said in an interview with the Greenwich Time. Ryan found himself staring at the handwriting and musical notes of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Formerly obsessed with the composer, Ryan had seen Beethoven's handwriting before, though never on the job. Ryan's client had the yellowed piece of sheet music, covered with furiously scribbled notes in the margins, behind glass. She felt that the music was worth something, but had no idea of its actual significance or the price it would eventually bring her.
Read more on this story — including the process Ryan used to authenticate the find and the value of the piece at auction — at the Greenwich Time.
In the 1970s, shag carpets were all the rage. Shag carpets in hues of Oscar the Grouch Green and Tang Orange. And to keep those carpets looking their shaggiest, people actually had rakes. Carpet rakes. To rake their carpets. It was... awkward.
Also in those groovy seventies homes, there were a lot of macrame hanging plant holders to be found. That held a lot of ferns. Macrame and God's eyes. And terrariums. Biiiig, spaceship-looking terrariums that held terribly average plant life. In large doses, it was... awkward.
This collection of unfortunately colored studio photo portraits from the 1970s were created by well intentioned individuals and families who wanted a record of themselves as they were at the time. They dressed in their nylon shirted, leisure suited '70s best and posed in the hippest way they (or their photographer) could imagine. But now, thankfully overshadowed by later family portraits, these framed 70s relics hang on walls and sit on tables, gathering dust and laughs. Awkwardly.
See a ton of these treasures at Vintage Everyday. Don't miss it.
Images: Van Mechelen studios, Steenbergen, Netherlands, via Vintage Everyday
Image: Ralf Roletschek
Whenever I travel by air, I'm always relieved after having been cleared by the TSA. Being able to walk to my gate knowing that the often annoying "exam" is over allows me to relax and get on with things, knowing that the possibility of being manhandled is over. Yet I wonder how many times the agents themselves "prepared" as they saw me coming. Could I have been marked as a risky hairdo, an annoyance, or worse, a "hot" passenger? According to this TSA secrets article by mental_floss:
2. THEY HAVE CODE WORDS FOR ATTRACTIVE (AND ANNOYING) PASSENGERS.
Because TSOs are usually in close proximity to passengers, some checkpoints develop a vocabulary of code words that allows them to speak freely without offending anyone. “Code talk for attractive females was the most common,” Harrington says. An employee might say “hotel papa” to alert others to an appealing traveler heading their way—the “h” is for “hot.” Others might assign a code number, like 39, and call it out. Harrington was also informed by a supervisor that he could signal for a prolonged screening for an annoying passenger if Harrington told him that the traveler was “very nice.”
and as for the 'do:
3. FANCY HAIRDOS ARE A SECURITY RISK.
Any passenger coming through with an elaborate hairdo—either carefully braided hair or the kind of up-do found on women headed for a wedding—means additional inspection will be required, because piled-up hair can conceivably conceal a weapon.
Read more behind-the-scenes secrets of the TSA at mental_floss.
When the Anomaly marketing agency asked these British children, “If Santa Claus was a woman, could she do the job?” they gave their answers. And while those feminists picking nits might have some to pick with the majority of their sentiments, who really cares when it's delivered this adorably? Via Design Taxi
In the most recent excerpt of the excellent podcast You Must Remember This by Karina Longworth, the legendary beauty Elizabeth Taylor is the subject. With material this good, it's best to just get to the text:
"Debbie Fisher had been a virgin who lived with her parents when she and the TV star Eddie Fisher got married in 1955. Eddie was … not a virgin. There have been reports that Eddie and Debbie’s marriage was arranged by MGM, who had no problem selling the couple as America’s Sweethearts. But Debbie seems to have thought it was a real relationship—at least, for a while. But after she gave birth to her first child, Carrie, Eddie never seemed to be around. Debbie desperately wanted another kid, but she couldn’t get her husband to sleep with her. Finally one night on vacation in Italy, Debbie got Eddie drunk enough that he performed his husbandly duties. One time was the charm, and nine months later Debbie gave birth to their son Todd.
Elizabeth Taylor and producer Mike Todd, and when Debbie heard in 1958 that Mike Todd had died in a plane crash—his private jet Liz plummeted to the ground in New Mexico—she went over to Liz’s house and offered to take care of Elizabeth’s three children while she grieved. Over the next few weeks, while Debbie was occupied taking care of a total of five children, she knew Eddie was spending a lot of time at Elizabeth’s house, but she wasn’t worried—after all, Eddie had loved Mike, too.
On the eve of the release of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Debbie knew Elizabeth was in New York. She thought Eddie was away on tour, and alone in the house with her kids, Debbie was lonely. She called Elizabeth at her hotel to chat—and Eddie answered. 'Roll over, darling,' Debbie said, 'and let me speak to Elizabeth.'”
Read the captivating full text at Slate.
Thanks to Neatorama reader Edward for recommending this episode.
This tiny kitten was undoubtedly the luckiest in the state of California on Tuesday when its life was saved in its last seconds by a quick thinking workman at a recycling plant in Galt.
Tony Miranda is in charge of sorting the recyclables and was doing just that when he caught sight of the kitten about to run into a compressor. He was able to reach her just in time.
Workers at the plant believe that the kitten arrived via garbage truck and had already survived a tractor pushing her onto a conveyor belt and a several-foot-fall onto a second belt.
“We put so much material in here and we run so much stuff through it. It’s just amazing to see a little kitty survive through all this. It made my day... definitely made my day,” Miranda told KCRA.
Read more on this story, see a video showing the plant and conveyor where the kitten was found and learn how she found a permanent home here.
Image: KCRA/Tom Miller
In this, the 44th episode of Anglophenia, host Kate Arnell gives us a look at traditional Christmas dinners in other countries. Fancy dining on a roasted reindeer or two? How about a puffin? Veal... dressed in a sauce of tuna and mayonnaise? Hit play and enjoy. Via Laughing Squid
Mountain goats were placed in the state of Utah in the latter part of the 1960s. Since intially introduced, their numbers skyrocketed from a population of six to over 2,000. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' method of relocation via helicopter keeps the goat populations steady and controlled.
Nets are shot at the goats, they are captured and strapped into harnesses and then they are relocated to preferable locations. The airlifting process is not harmful to the animals, and has been found to be safer than shooting them with tranquilizers. Veterinarians are on site during the relocation process to ensure the goats are safe and healthy. Via Gizmodo
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