Have your selection of animal blogs gotten a bit too repetitive? Then maybe it's time you check out Hipster Puppies. If you submit your dog pics now, you might even have a chance to get in their upcoming book.
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Jill Harness's Blog Posts
Have your selection of animal blogs gotten a bit too repetitive? Then maybe it's time you check out Hipster Puppies. If you submit your dog pics now, you might even have a chance to get in their upcoming book.
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If you were one of the many supporters of Team Coco in the recent late night battles, then you're sure to appreciate this glorious Threadless shirt featuring Conan in his true barbarian form.
Link Via Laughing Squid
This week is the American Humane Society’s “Be Kind to Animals Week,” and while I certainly support their objective of stopping animal abuse and educating people about how to be a better pet owner, it’s easy to take the notion of “being kind” a bit too far. Sure we’ve all seen friends or family members that have spoiled their pets a little too much (even I have a few shirts for my pup), but these products and services simply cross the line of acceptable pampering. Special thanks to my friend Lady Bee from InventorSpot who provided a huge boost to my research on this article with her exceptional animal products blog.
Say Hello To Your New Dinner Guest
Remember how people used to teach their dog not to beg at the table? This pup high chair mocks your concepts of table manners and good conversation. Sure your pet may be a member of the family, but I don’t think most dogs would want to sit in this high chair, even in exchange for a fine dining experience.
Wash Up!
Of course, if Fido is going to join you for dinner, you’d better make sure he’s clean first. This Dog-O-Matic washing machine may sound like a sketch comedy show commercial, but it is absolutely real and the owner just swears that dogs love it –and who wouldn’t love getting stuck in a metal box and sprayed with soap and water?
Breathe Easier
Sure your home ionizing air purifier may still provide cleaner air to your pup, but is it enough? And what about when he’s outside and is breathing all that dirty, unpurified fresh air? Fortunately this Mini Ionizing Air Purifier for Pets can help your little one breathe easier as they track it through the house and yard on their collar. It also has scent cartridges to help make your dog stink less, but there’s no point in pretending those are really for the pup.
Oxygen Overload
If the air purifier wasn’t enough, maybe your animal needs a full dose of oxygen therapy. This dog oxygen chamber allows your animal to take part in the same trendy breathing exercises that are available to human clientele the world over. Apparently, they’re very popular with the pets in Japan, and its easy to see why --just look how happy the dog is in the photo.
Down Boy Down
Once your pup is properly oxygenated, you’d better spritz on some Sexy Beast perfume to help ensure she maintains a delicate and lovely fragrance throughout the day. Sexy Beast is normally extravagantly overpriced at $50 for a 1.7 ounce bottle, but if you really want to throw down, you could instead buy the limited edition version with a bottle covered in Swarovski crystals. It’s only a mere $850 for a 3.4 ounce bottle and surely it will only rise in price, after all, it is limited edition.
Over the Top Dress Up
When you really want to feel like you’re on the same level with your dog though, it’s all about the clothes. And while most people feel content with dog shirts and the Snuggie for Dogs, you’re in a whole different plane of existence when you decide that your dog needs a $3000 dress covered in Swarovski crystals. Sure the dress is cute, you know what else is cute though? The 200 animals you could help provide food, shelter and care for if you donated your $3000 to the humane society instead of spending the money on a dress your dog will probably destroy within the week (I got that figure from a donation flier they sent me last year).
Out On the Town
Now that you and Fluffy are all dolled up, maybe it’s time to head out to the L.A. dog bar, SkyBark, and enjoy a brew with your furry friend. Lucky for you, SkyBark even serves beer made for dogs. Happy Tail Ale is a carbonation-free, alcohol-free beverage brewed especially for dogs.
Tweeting The Night Away
When your dog wanders off at the bar to get some privacy with a hot collie, now you can even track her with your smart phone via Twitter. Just get her this great Puppy Tweets accessory and everything she does will show up on her own special Twitter feed.
Puppybjorn?
When you’re dog is to tired to carry itself home from the bar, you have your option of carriers and while pet carriers are nothing new, and neither are Babybjorns, you get something delightfully new when you mesh the two together. Now you can carry your four-legged friend on your chest and display a whole new level of crazy. The funny thing is this gesture isn’t viewed as “I love my dog,” but instead as “I desperately want a child.” And once again, this creation is simply not something animals really want. After all, do you really think your pet is happy sitting up like that with his arms swinging?
Bye Bye Brown Eye
I admit it, the concept of butt covers for pets really bothers me. At least the similar product of dog panties is more like silly clothing and innocent costume play for the pooch. All these "Rear Gears" do is hide the animal’s butt. If you’re really that insecure about your animal’s behind then you probably aren’t going to clean up after your dog on walks and you probably leave your kitty litter dirty for months at a time…bottom line, if you think you need these, you probably shouldn’t have a pet. Oh, and good luck removing the butt cover when your animal does its business despite your cartoon coverup.
Big Ballin'?
If you want to find the ultimate method of pretending to pamper your pet when the only one receiving benefit is your self-confidence though, Neuticles are the way to go. Despite constant messages from vets and other animal care workers telling us that animals don’t notice when their testicles are removed, Nueticles prides itself in helping you fool your animal into thinking nothing’s different by switching their natural testes with silicone replacements. Of course, the products do help promote neutering among people who still can’t deal with having an emasculated dog and for that, they should be commended, but the idea itself is still solely for the vanity of the owner.
Can You Ear Me Now?
Where Neuticles actually at least promote a healthy practice amongst dog owners, the company’s other product PermaStay Ear Implants actually help promote an outdated and unhealthy practice. Most modern vets will not even crop dog’s ears because the unnecessary surgery can result in both anesthesia dangers and infections. That doesn’t stop the PermaStay folks from urging pet owners to not only get the procedure, but then to put their dog under additional stress and danger if the cropping fails and the animal’s ear becomes floppy. When this happens, the owner is not supposed to just lovingly accept their dog’s floppy ear, but to put the dog under anesthesia and have plastic implants added to prevent the floppiness. While the inventor, Gregg Miller, claims the dog doesn’t feel the implant in his ear, the problem is that dogs actually suffer immense pain after ear cropping. So Happy Be Kind to Animals Week everyone, but remember, not everything that claims to be invented for your pet is actually a good way to be kind to them. I know I couldn't possibly list all the wacky pet products here, so what are your favorite weird animal items?
The A-Team movie is coming out soon and its sure to stir up the standard anger from the show’s loyal fans like most of these things do, but what is it about the A-Team that has made it such a cultural icon? Is there more to this ragtag group of mercenaries than meets the eye? You bet there is. So let’s take a deep look at the je nais sais quoi that allowed this somewhat formulaic show filled with cartoonish levels of violence to become a long-standing success story. Image via Wikipedia
A Custom Role For Mr. T
Almost everyone’s favorite character in the show is B.A. Barracus, played by Mr. T. The funny thing is that the entire concept of the character, and largely the overall show, was based around Mr. T’s public persona. In fact, when NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff pitched the show, he presented is as a blend of The Dirty Dozen, Mission Impossible, Seven Samurai, Mad Max and Hill Street Blues, with “Mr. T driving the car.” Naturally the character based after Mr. T shares his love of gold and his mohawk. In the show, he got to point out that the look is not related to the Mohawk people, but is instead an African symbol. Image via Wikipedia
What’s With B.A.?
Since the show’s inception, B.A. was said to stand for “Bad Attitude.” It was even spelled out in the pilot episode when reporter Amy Allen explains, "Bosco Baracus. Known as B.A. for 'bad attitude.' The man is a mechanical genius. He also has one of the worst conduct records in the army. He likes to slug officers." In season 4, you learn that the letters are actually his real initials, as his real full name is actually Bosco Albert Baracas. In other countries (the show has been notably popular outside the U.S., particularly in the U.K.), his character’s name changed so he could maintain a cool nickname. In Spanish-speaking countries, his character is named Mario Baracas, so the M.A. can stand for “Mala Actitud,” which is an accurate translation of the original. In Russian, he is D.N., or “Durnoi Nrav,” which similarly means “Bad Attitude.” In Italian, his name is P.E. Baracas, which stands for “Pessimo Elemento,” which is similar to saying “Bad Guy.” In Hungary, his name also means Bad Guy, but they simply call him “Rosszfiu.” The weirdest translation I found was the name they give the character in Taiwan, “Guay Tou” which seems to translate to “Wacky Head.”
Mercenaries or Heroes?
The members of the A-Team are often referred to as mercenaries because they are such tough guys who are willing to kick butt for money, but the plots almost always required them to fight bad guys for an innocent client (usually a girl) and they often refuse to accept payment in the end. Additionally, the team is made up of loyal Army soldiers who are only on the run due to a serious misunderstanding. The story is that during the Vietnam War, they were given orders by their original commanding officer to rob the Bank of Hanoi to help put an end to the war. Unfortunately, when they returned to base after the mission, they find that it was burned down and that their commander was killed by the Viet Cong. This erased all evidence that they robbed the bank under orders and they were court-martialed for the crime. They were sent to Fort Bragg, but escaped prison. Image via herzogbr [Flickr]
Ratings Rule The Plot Twists
When the show came out, it was incredibly successful. The first episode was broadcast after Super Bowl XVII on January 30, 1983 and reached over 25% of the viewing audience. Over the first three season, ratings continued to place the show consistently in the top ten for its time slot, but by the fourth season, viewership started to decline. Some people say this was because more people started to watch family-friendly programs like The Cosby Show, but the network execs thought it might have to do with the show’s predictable plot lines. As a result, they changed things up in the fifth season by letting the team get captured by the Army and work to do suicide missions in exchange for a pardon. Unfortunately, fans hated the idea of the team working under someone else’s orders and viewership decreased even more, resulting in the cancellation of the show after a total of 98 episodes.
Star Power
The show was big enough at its peak to attract a number of popular celebrities of the day, including Boy George, Isaac Hayes, Hulk Hogan, Rick James, Pat Sajak and Vanna White. Also, a bit of merchandise was released during the show’s reign including everything from action figures to a Mr. T cola-flavored popsicle.
Cartoon Violence Brought To Life
One of the most widely-remembered things about the show is its cartoonish levels of violence, which almost never actually resulted in injury or death. While some estimates claimed that the show often had as many as 46 different violent acts per episode, co-creator of the program Stephen J. Cannell argued that these acts were not of any consequence because the violence was so unrealistic. Cannell also admitted that the violence without injuries even got to the point where it was a running joke for the writers, who would often test the limits of realism on purpose and incorporate things like unbelievable helicopter crashes where the victims would simply get up and walk away. Image via SiamEye [Flickr]
Sexism On and Off The Screen
During the show’s run, critics often called it sexist because the females on the show were almost always playing the damsel in distress. The only recurring female characters were those of the “assisting reporter.” It’s one thing to have the appearance of sexism on screen, but both of the actresses were notably disliked by other cast and crew members who simply didn’t think a woman needed to be on the show. The first of these two actresses, Melinda Culea, was fired after she started demanding more lines and more action scenes. She was quickly replaced mid-season with Marla Heasley who was expected to be more fragile and feminine. Even so, she was quickly let go by the start of the third season when the producers decided they didn’t need a woman cast member. Heasley claims that her first day on set she was approached by George Peppard, who played Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith on the show. He told her:
“We don't want you on the show. None of the guys want you here. The only reason you're here is because the network and the producers want you. For some reason they think they need a girl.”
Later on, he shared his same sentiments in an interview with the Australian paper, the Sunday Mail:
“Whenever the studio slips an actress on to the team, she becomes a distraction. She always slows down the action. She's someone who's only there for the glamor shots. Everything stops for the sexy smiles - and I can't see why that's necessary on The A-Team.”
Dirk Benedict (seen above), who played Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman,” recently remarked that the show was made to be a guy’s show and that if it had to be made in modern times, they would force it to me so much more feminine that a more proper name would be, “The Gay-Team.” I can’t help but wonder if he feels that way about the new movie, particularly considering that Jessica Beil is playing a ruthless Army officer dedicated to tracking them down. Image via Marrevee1 [Wikipedia]
Changes For The Big Screen
Speaking of the movie, that’s not the only major change that’s taking shape in the plot. Instead of being Vietnam vets, the team now served in The Gulf War. They are still on the run after being accused of a crime they did not do and are branded war criminals. Both Jules Daly and Stephen J. Cannell, the show’s original creators, are working on the project. One thing you’ll have to say goodbye to though is the cartoon violence as one of the lead writers has said they intend to have the film be far more gritty and in the vein of Casino Royale and Batman Begins. Mr T. was offered a cameo, but he turned down the offer and Ice Cube was originally offered the role of B.A. Baracus and John Singleton was assigned to direct the film, but both ended out being pulled from the project. Instead of Mr. T or Ice Cube, MMA fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will be playing B.A. Baracus. Poster image via Wikipedia So how about it A-Team fans, are you going to check out the flick? Sources: Imdb, Telegraph UK, Wikipedia #1, #2, #3
By now, you probably know there’s a Facebook fan page for just about every subject under the sun, even for people who hate that everything has a fan page. Even so, you’ll probably be surprised by just how specific some of these fan pages can get. To that end, here’s a collection of some of the weirdest and funniest fan pages around. I’d like to dedicate this post to my cousin Jon who both inspired me to write this article and gave me a leg-up on the research after he joined so many weird fan pages.
Hateful But Humorous
We know the internet is full of haters, but when does a pet peeve become something greater: when thousands of people share your anger at the subject. Whether you hate people who eat string cheese without peeling it, 6 year-olds with cell phones, Ed Hardy, getting your feet tickled or orange-skinned Jersey Shore girls, there’s certain to be some group on Facebook that’s sure to make your hatred of a random subject seem at least somewhat legitimate. There is even a group for people who hate having to tell Microsoft Word that their name is not a misspelling.
Image via www.votejoec.com [Flickr]
Only On The Internet
Sometimes, it’s important to remember just how much the internet has changed our lives. Take, for example, the fact that now when you want to tell your friends how your day was you often have to remember that your family could also be included in the message.
You might also recall how much our vocabulary has changed in the last decade. It’s to the point where LSHMSFOAIDMT(Laughing So Hard My Sombrero Falls Off and I Drop My Taco) would be a legitimate expression if it weren’t just so darn long.
Image via anniebby [Flickr]
Celebrating the Little Things In Life
Even now though, the internet does not control our entire lives, it’s still about the simple things and you don’t need to own the Book of Awesome to remember how great it is to get the extra item in the vending machine, push the buttons on your soda cups or to laugh so hard you feel like you’re exercising. We also all remember how great it was to make a robot voice with the help of a fan when we were kids. And let’s never forget how great it can be to enjoy free samples at Costco.
Image via Chapandra [Flickr]
Daily Observations
Similarly, sometimes it’s just comforting to know that you aren’t the only one to know you feel a certain way or notice certain things. Whether you’re the person who constantly questions where you got that bruise or scratch (I certainly am) or the type who finds themselves periodically thinking ‘I’m so glad my laugh doesn’t sound like that,’ it’s always nice to know you’re in good company. There’s even a group for all of you grammar Nazis out there where you can celebrate knowing the difference between the three spellings of “there.”
Image via Unhindered by Talent [Flickr]
Marvellously Nerdy Movie Fans
While most people just become the fan of an actor or movie they like, some people have strangely specific Facebook fan pages made after them, like the group dedicated to Morgan Freeman’s voice. This is particularly ideal for those who love the way he talks but hate his movies. Alternatively, some people choose certain parts of a movie to relate with, for example those who are fans of “I Hate It When Someone Puts Your Name In The Goblet of Fire Without Telling U [sic].” There are even fan pages based around character’s names, or rather getting someone’s sister to name their baby after a character name…specifically Megatron. Interestingly, the person who started the group said that if it got over one million fans, his sister would go ahead with the Megatron title. The page currently has 1.7 million fans already, so I guess we’ll know in August (when the baby is due) if the sister is true to her word.
Image via Kenya Allmond [Flickr]
Schooltime Facebook Fun
While most Neatorama readers have graduated long ago, it is still refreshing to learn that high school today is still largely the same as it was in our day. Fortunately, “Pretending to Look For Your Homework When You Know You Didn’t Do It,” and “English Teachers Put More Thought Into A Novel Than The Actual Author Did,” can help us remember just what it was like to suffer through the day-to-day drudgery of English essays and math exercises.
Image via beautyfromashes [Flickr]
Somewhat Unrelatable
I have to say that one of the funniest groups I’ve seen is one that you probably won’t get unless you live in my hometown of San Diego. For those of you who have spent a good amount of time in America’s Finest City (I’m not bragging, that’s its real nickname), there is the page for those of us who once thought the Mormon Temple in La Jolla was actually a castle. Even if you’ve never seen it in person though, the picture is sure to give you some idea about what we’re talking about here.
Image via San Diego Shooter [Flickr]
I Hope We All Feel This Way
Sometimes the funniest groups are simply those that celebrate something that’s so obvious it seems preposterous to not be a fan of the idea. For example, I don’t need to join the Facebook fan page just to prove that I support not being stabbed repeatedly, but apparently some people can’t feel strongly enough about the subject.
Image via cookiealbarn [Flickr]
Now it’s your turn readers, I’m sure you’ve seen some wacky groups and fan pages that the rest of us have never even heard of, so share already!
Rock and roll may be good for your soul, but it sure wouldn’t have its own soul without the shredding goodness of the electric guitar. Because April is National Guitar Month and because we love bizarre creations, we’ve decided to celebrate this important rock and roll tool with a collection of the wackiest, wildest and just plain wild guitars seen around the internet.
When you think about it, it’s not all too surprising that killer rock is sometimes performed on gun-shaped guitars --after all, many guitarists love to take on a tough guy persona. This gun guitar seems a little fantastical with the crazy sight piece at the top, but it would certainly make an excellent souvenir for anyone visiting Japan with an extra 80,000 yen in their pockets.
With its shotgun design, this designer guitar by Doc George Oates is decidedly more all-American. Is it just me, or does it seem like Ted Nugent needs this thing?
When you need a gun guitar that could actually harm someone though, it’s all about the flame-thrower guitar that was used by Kane Robert while he played with Alice Cooper. This bad boy was shaped like an M-60 machine gun and at one point, it even hit Alice Cooper with a ball of flames while on stage.
Images via Gizmodo, Doc George Oats, and FoundryMusic
It’s admittedly cheesy to constantly refer to your guitar as an “axe,” but what about when your guitar actually is an axe? The Gizmodo writer who discovered the Japanese gun guitar also found this glorious Gundam axe guitar.
If you prefer realism though, there’s no beating Gene Simmons’ classic axe guitar. These signed collector items fetch quite a sum these days because less than 500 are said to be in existence.
Images via Gizmodo and Ed Roman Guitars
On the complete opposite end of the cool spectrum lie these guitars that look like they would be bigger amongst the Devo crowd than the Slash fans. Whether you prefer Sega or Nintendo is a matter of personal preference, but both of these geek guitars are pretty gosh-darn great.
Images via Kotaku and Cool Buzz
When it comes to geeky guitars though, videogame consoles are by no means the end-all-be-all of this specific genre. In fact, both this steampunk guitar and this Lego guitar are sure to strike a chord with any futuristic voyagers.
Images via BoingBoing and Geektastic
If those guitars aren’t outlandish enough for you, then maybe the Teenar girl guitar is enough for you. Inventor Lou Reimuller created this creepy monstrosity that can be played with only a tiny tilt.
Image by Lou Reimuller
This two string bass is possibly even more visually striking than the creepy girl guitar only because it’s the exact opposite of what you would expect to see in a bass. It’s played by Stig Pederson in the Danish band D-A-D.
Image by Guitarz
Sometimes though, the coolest guitars are those that aren’t technically guitars, like this amazingly rocktastic shirt actually plays cords and strums.
Image via ThinkGeek
The guitar shape is cool enough that sometimes just the icon is enough to provide for a rocking design. Take, for example, this awesome motorized guitar boat by Australian musician Josh Pyke.
Neatorama readers though will probably appreciate this nanoguitar that’s only 10 microns long and is made with one single crystal of silicon.
For those that think bigger is better though, why not enjoy the 43 and a half feet long World’s Largest Guitar that’s still playable –if you live up a beanstalk. It was made by school students and set a Guinness Book of World Records in 2000.
Images via Daily Mail, Lutherie and Gizmodo
Shoot Me With Some Sweet Tunes
When you think about it, it’s not all too surprising that killer rock is sometimes performed on gun-shaped guitars --after all, many guitarists love to take on a tough guy persona. This gun guitar seems a little fantastical with the crazy sight piece at the top, but it would certainly make an excellent souvenir for anyone visiting Japan with an extra 80,000 yen in their pockets.
With its shotgun design, this designer guitar by Doc George Oates is decidedly more all-American. Is it just me, or does it seem like Ted Nugent needs this thing?
When you need a gun guitar that could actually harm someone though, it’s all about the flame-thrower guitar that was used by Kane Robert while he played with Alice Cooper. This bad boy was shaped like an M-60 machine gun and at one point, it even hit Alice Cooper with a ball of flames while on stage.
Images via Gizmodo, Doc George Oats, and FoundryMusic
Let Me Ax You’re a Question About These Axes
It’s admittedly cheesy to constantly refer to your guitar as an “axe,” but what about when your guitar actually is an axe? The Gizmodo writer who discovered the Japanese gun guitar also found this glorious Gundam axe guitar.
If you prefer realism though, there’s no beating Gene Simmons’ classic axe guitar. These signed collector items fetch quite a sum these days because less than 500 are said to be in existence.
Images via Gizmodo and Ed Roman Guitars
How Many Ways Can You “Play” A Guitar?
On the complete opposite end of the cool spectrum lie these guitars that look like they would be bigger amongst the Devo crowd than the Slash fans. Whether you prefer Sega or Nintendo is a matter of personal preference, but both of these geek guitars are pretty gosh-darn great.
Images via Kotaku and Cool Buzz
More Geektastic Guitars
When it comes to geeky guitars though, videogame consoles are by no means the end-all-be-all of this specific genre. In fact, both this steampunk guitar and this Lego guitar are sure to strike a chord with any futuristic voyagers.
Images via BoingBoing and Geektastic
The Not So Tiny Little Teenar
If those guitars aren’t outlandish enough for you, then maybe the Teenar girl guitar is enough for you. Inventor Lou Reimuller created this creepy monstrosity that can be played with only a tiny tilt.
Image by Lou Reimuller
Beautifully Backwards Bass
This two string bass is possibly even more visually striking than the creepy girl guitar only because it’s the exact opposite of what you would expect to see in a bass. It’s played by Stig Pederson in the Danish band D-A-D.
Image by Guitarz
Dressing Up Your Inner Rocker
Sometimes though, the coolest guitars are those that aren’t technically guitars, like this amazingly rocktastic shirt actually plays cords and strums.
Image via ThinkGeek
Unusable Unusual Guitars
The guitar shape is cool enough that sometimes just the icon is enough to provide for a rocking design. Take, for example, this awesome motorized guitar boat by Australian musician Josh Pyke.
Neatorama readers though will probably appreciate this nanoguitar that’s only 10 microns long and is made with one single crystal of silicon.
For those that think bigger is better though, why not enjoy the 43 and a half feet long World’s Largest Guitar that’s still playable –if you live up a beanstalk. It was made by school students and set a Guinness Book of World Records in 2000.
Images via Daily Mail, Lutherie and Gizmodo
International Penguin Day occurs on April 25, but don’t confuse this day, which marks the start of the Antarctic penguins migration period, with Penguin Awareness Day, which takes place on January 20. There seems to be no reason for the date of Penguin Awareness day, but International Penguin Day was started years ago when researchers in the Naval Weapons Center in California first observed the migration patterns of Antarctic penguins. Personally, I can’t think of anyway to celebrate my favorite birds in all their formal-wearing glory then to go into a little detail about the birds and their fascinating lives. While the holiday marks the migration period of Antarctic penguins, we at Neatorama don’t like to discriminate, so we’ll be talking about all penguins in general rather than focusing on just those from the very far south.
They’re Almost All Southerners
Almost every wild penguin lives somewhere in the southern hemisphere with the exception of the Galapagos Penguin, which lives in the area it is named for. While many people envision penguins living in frigid conditions, only a few actually live so far south and many live in rather temperate zones. For the most part, the larger penguins live in cooler areas and smaller ones live closer to the equator. Rock Hopper Penguin image via Ben Tubby [Flickr]
Back In The Day
That’s not how it’s always been though. Prehistoric species of penguins were sprawled across the southern hemisphere with no distribution based on size. One giant penguin species lived only 1250 miles south of the equator. Prehistoric Penguins were so different in size that there was even a 6 foot tall penguin called the Nordenskjoeld's Giant Penguin and a 173 pound species called the New Zealand Giant Penguin.
They’re Just Big Boned
These days though, the largest species of penguin is Emperor Penguin, which grows to around 3 and a half feet tall and 75 pounds. These are arguably the most famous penguins around as they are not only the largest, but some of the small handful of penguins that live in Antarctica. You may remember these guys as the stars of March of the Penguins. The species is also unique for being the only penguin to breed in the middle of the harsh Antarctic winter at temperatures as low as -40 degrees. They are also the only penguins that leave the incubation duties to only one sex and one of only two species to lay only one egg at a time --most deliver two at a time. The females lay an egg and then the males incubate the egg on their feet while the females return to the sea over the next two months to feed. The males huddle in a large circle and rotate each individual’s time in the center. When the eggs hatch, the males have normally fasted for over 115 days. When the mom’s return, the males leave the new-born chick with their partner and take their turn to go feed. When the chicks are strong enough, they huddle amongst themselves for warmth while the mothers and fathers feed and eventually they begin to grow their adult feathers and join the feeding process around the summer time. While all penguin species have a somewhat high mortality rate amongst the young, Emperor Penguins have the highest rate of death during the chick’s first year. In fact, 90% of all of the chicks will die during this time. Image via ianduffy [Flickr]
Don’t Count Out The Tinier Species
On the other side of the spectrum is the Little Blue Penguin (a.k.a. the Fairy Penguin), which grows only 16 inches tall and weighs a little over 2 pounds. These little ones are much less famous than their massive Emperor cousins, even so, you may recognize these little ones as the inspiration for the Linux logo –the creator of Linux was bitten by a Little Penguin while in Australia and the memory stayed with him through his life. Because they are so small, they are not well adapted to frigid weather and they instead live in Australia and New Zealand and do better in areas free from cats and foxes. They have also been spotted in Chile and South Africa, but researchers aren’t sure if they are part of a colony or somehow ended up in the countries. Little Blue Penguin image via CrazyCh3m [Flickr]. Linux image via Larry Ewing
They Stay Faithful…To Some Extent
Penguins tend to be monogamous each year, but they will often find a new mate each consecutive year. In species such as the Emperor Penguin, the lack of year-to-year monogamy (only a 15% rate) is believed to be due to environmental pressures that limit the amount of time they have to search for their past partners. Some of the penguins in warmer climates, like the Little Blue Penguin, do stay loyal to their partners until one of the mates dies. Females are the ones who select their mating partner and in many cases, females will compete for an attractive male partner. As for the eggs themselves, penguins have some o the smallest proportioned eggs of all birds when compared with the size of the parents. The Little Blue Penguin lays eggs that are only 4.7% of its weight and the Emperor Penguin’s eggs are only 2.3% of their total weight. The eggs also have some of the thickest shells, which weigh between 10-16% of the egg’s weight (it takes the Emperor Penguin chicks about 2-3 days to hatch out of their shells) and they have some of the largest yolk ratios of all birds --the yolk takes up 22-31% of the egg volume. Image via Jerzy Strzelecki [Wikipedia]
They’ve Got Each Other’s Backs
Aside from mating, penguins have a very high level of social interaction and all penguins communicate through visual and vocal displays. Their vocal calls not only help the penguins choose mates, but also lets them find their mate and their nest when they come back from feeding. The penguin females often show a great level of empathy for one another; when one mother loses a chick, she will often attempt to take one from another’s nest, but many of the nearby females will usually help defend the mother.
Humans Also Have Their Backs
Penguins have a lot of human friends and all species are protected even though some species are at no risk of extinction in the near future. Perhaps part of the reason we connect with the birds, besides their inherent adorableness, is the fact that they are rarely afraid of humans. Many species of penguins, particularly those from the Antarctic, have no fear of humans at all because they have so few predators on land. While seals attack by the water, the few air and land predators penguins sea will only eat chicks and eggs. For this reason, people who visit penguin habitats are often surprised to see the birds will often approach them out of pure curiosity. This comes in handy in zoo and research facilities because the researchers can often get close to the birds without having to worry about throwing off the animal’s natural behavior patterns. For one specific African penguin living at the California Academy of Sciences, this met an additional benefit when he started to go bald, which left him shivering in his tank. The keepers first tried to warm Pierre up with a heat lamp, but he still couldn’t enter the water, which is a major part of any penguins life (most species spend anywhere from 50-70% of their lives in the water). Eventually, one of the biologists, Pam Schaller, realized that if wet suits keep humans warm in frigid temperatures, it might just work for little Pierre. The modified suit worked brilliantly and Pierre was quite happy to have his life back as he frolicked with his 19 friends in the tank’s pool. Image via Roux [Wikipedia]
They Love To Get Wet
The reason poor Pierre was so cold when he started losing his feathers comes down to a unique aspect of penguin anatomy. The birds aren’t kept warm with a layer of blubber (although the Emperor Penguins are benefited by being so large), but mostly by their waterproof feathers. The feathers trap air, which insulates their body and helps them to float. While they can’t use their wings to fly, they instead work as flippers and penguins are great swimmers accordingly. Their style of swimming looks surprisingly like flight in other birds and they can reach speeds of 17 miles per hour, although most stay closer to 5 miles per hour during their swims. Most penguins do not swim very deeply and only dive for a minute or two, but the Emperor Penguin has been recorded going as deep as 1,800 feet for up to 22 minutes. No matter how deep they swim though, penguins have to return to the surface to breathe and most of the smaller species will leap in and out of the water like porpoises to breathe. While underwater, penguins occasionally play, but they mostly swim to eat. Their main sources of food are krill, fish and squid. While it seems like their stark color contrasts would make them an easy target for underwater predators, since they largely stay near the top of the water surface, all the underwater predators (like orcas, seals, sea lions and sharks) can see is a white belly, which blends in with the water surface. From above, their dark backs help them blend in with the depths of the sea. Penguin’s eyes are well adapted for seeing under water as, well as the rest of their bodies. In fact, a supraorbital gland allows them to filter excess salt from their blood stream and release it from their nasal passages. In a way, it’s quite fortunate that penguins have so few predators in the land and air. When they cruise on the land, their wings and tails help them keep balance, but they waddle quite a bit. Many penguins will also toboggan along the snow to help them move quickly and with minimal energy. Image via ken2754@Yokohama [Flickr] Sources: Discovery, Wikipedia #1, #2, #3, Seaworld
If you’re like me, you were counting the hours until the new season of Doctor Who premiered. For those of you who did watch it, did you like it? How did you feel about the new doctor, played by Matt Smith? If you are a fan, then hopefully this bit of trivia about the show and The Doctor will help hold you over until the next episode comes on.
Notable Achievements
Running on more than 30 seasons, Doctor Who is the longest-running science fiction show in the world and considered the most successful science fiction show of all time based on ratings and sales. In fact, more than 750 episodes have been broadcast since the show started. (Take that Star Trek.) Even one of the top directors of all time, Steven Spielberg has said that "the world would be a poorer place without Doctor Who.” Image of writer/producer Steven Moffat with his Hugo Award via Dennis Schnapp [Flickr]
Spiraling Spin Offs
In addition to re-spawning the show in 2005, the Doctor Who series has resulted in at least five attempts at television spin-offs –the most successful of which is probably Torchwood –an anagram of Doctor Who. (On a side note, am I the only one who considers Jack Harkness, the main character of Torchwood, to have a name that's almost too bizarrely close to my own? Think about it, Jill Harness & Jack Harkness...maybe we're name soul mates.) Not all of the spin-offs are so good though; there's a very good reason K-9 and Company, a very 80’s detective-like show featuring K-9 and Sarah Jane, never made it past the pilot episode. Image via Foomandoonian [Flickr]
Regenerations That Survive The Generations
A lot of people who are familiar with the show but who don’t actually watch it wonder how one character can be portrayed by so many different actors. Those of you who do watch the show know that it’s because The Doctor is a Time Lord and his race regenerates every time they should die. Not all fans of Doctor Who know that a Time Lord is only supposed to be able to regenerate a total of 12 times though and The Doctor has so far regenerated a total of 10 times (he’s on his 11th body now). Assuming the show continues to do well, do you think The Doctor may be able to cheat this standard Time Lord rule and regenerate more than 12 times, like his enemy The Master? Unsurprisingly, the ability to regenerate was developed as a means to keep the doctor alive after the first actor, William Hartnell, announced his desire to leave the show in 1966. In fact, regeneration was never even conceived of until they needed an excuse to keep the show going. A recent BBC archive release stated that the team based the regeneration cycle on bad LSD trips. The memos said the transformation was a horrifying experience, like the "hell and dank horror" associated with a bad acid dose. Doctor collage via Wikipedia
Ch- Ch- Changes
After each regeneration, The Doctor looks completely different and takes on a slightly modified personality. This is because each body is supposed to represent a different aspect of the same character. He always maintains the same memories, but his emotions and personality will change to some extent. Because the purpose of regeneration is partially to allow The Doctor to enjoy a new and youthful body, his character becomes younger every time he regenerates. Fans of the show may recall how old the first Doctors were, particularly when compared with 26 year-old Matt Smith.
Matt Smith, Meet The Doctor
Funny enough, Matt Smith is still much younger than anyone on the show or the network wanted The Doctor to be. Few people believed that a 26 year-old could adequately portray the knowledge and life-experience that helps to define The Doctor. Even so, when he auditioned for the role on the first day, the production team, particularly head writer and producer Steven Moffat were so blown away by his acting abilities, that they immediately knew he was the one. When they announced their decision, they stood firm behind his casting, stating, it had “always been Matt.” Because Matt was so unknown at the time, the announcement of his casting led both Reuters and The Independent to announce the news as a question, their headlines proclaiming, “Doctor Who?” Image via Alun.Vega [Flickr]
A British Staple or A Gorefest?
Many people, including Caitlin Moran, a reviewer for The Times, have noted that Doctor Who is “quintessential to being British.” Many fans believe part of any English childhood should be spent watching Doctor Who from “behind the sofa” and popping your head out when the scary parts are over. Unfortunately, it’s these scary bits that made the show a target for morality police during the 1970’s. Legendary campaigner Mary Whitehouse repeatedly filed complaints with the BBC about the show’s frightening and gory content. Every time she complained though, it only helped to boost the show’s rating. It got to the point where the show’s producer during the 80’s, John Nathan-Turner, said that he looked forward to her comments because the show’s ratings would jump as soon as she made them. On the other hand, Whitehouse was definitely onto something. A BBC study in 1972 found that Doctor Who was the most violent of all dramatic programs produced by the network at the time.
Educational Intentions
Perhaps part of the reason the show survived throughout these controversies though was its noble goal of educating children and providing a family-oriented show for all ages. The plot originally alternated historical stories and futuristic stories in an attempt to get children interested in both history and science and The Doctor’s original companions were even a science teacher and a history teacher. They soon started cutting back on the historical episodes though because the production team didn’t enjoy making them as much as the sci fi ones and the ratings were never as high anyway. (Personally, I’m a sucker for the historical episodes, but I’m a history nerd anyway.) Image via Stuart Bryant [Flickr]
Monstrous Success Stories
Another thing that always seemed to score high with the viewers were monsters, particularly the Daleks. To some extent, the Daleks, are even more famous than The Doctor himself. The Daleks became so popular during the 60’s that they even spawned what was known as Dalekmania, where the public would eat up anything related to the Daleks, including the 1964 board game, "Dodge The Daleks." The phenomenon was so major, they even made a film titled Dalekmania in 1995 that focused on the fad obsession with the aliens. In 1964, there was a single released by The Go-Go’s (not the 80’s girl band) called “I’m Gonna Spend My Christmas With A Dalek.” The Clash even referenced them in the song “Remote Control,” saying "Repression — gonna be a Dalek / Repression — I am a robot / Repression — I obey." If you think the obsession was over, then consider the 2008 study that showed 9 out of 10 British children could correctly identify a Dalek and that Daleks were featured on an English postage stamp in 1999. In recent years, they were even featured in two separate, unauthorized pornographic movies. Dalek even appears in the Oxford English Dictionary, as does T.A.R.D.I.S., and is often used as a metaphor for authoritarian people who act robotically. Image via Heath bar [Flickr]
The Time And Relative Dimension In Space Box
Speaking of the T.A.R.D.I.S., it’s another classic Doctor Who staple that’s become more recognizable than the actual Time Lord inside of it. If you’re not an avid viewer of the show, you may wonder why the spaceship looks like a police box. All T.A.R.D.I.S.s are made with a Chameleon Circuit that allows them to blend in with the surroundings it lands in. The Doctor’s Chameleon Circuit broke when he was in 1960’s Britain when the ship was in the shape of a police box. He liked the look enough that he decided to not bother fixing the circuit. When the BBC tried to trademark the famed blue police box in 1996, the Metropolitan Police filed an objection to the claim, arguing that they created and owned the rights to the box design. The Patent Office has since ruled in favor of the network, pointing out that the police never trademarked the box and that they never complained about the fact that the BBC was selling merchandise with the design for more than three decades. It’s also worth noting that the Doctor Who police box has never actually been a faithful replica of the real boxes used by the Metropolitan Police. The “dimensionally transcendental” properties (as The Doctor says) of the T.A.R.D.I.S. make it much larger inside than it appears to be. While no one has ever made a map of the interior of the ship, it is quite expansive and contains living quarters, an art gallery, a greenhouse, a library, a bathroom, a swimming pool, a medical bay, a multi-storied wardrobe, storage areas, an attic and a secondary control room. If you’ve ever wondered why such an incredible machine is always breaking down (aside from its age), then it may be beneficial for you to know that when The Doctor acquired his ship, he actually stole it from his home planet and the Type 40 T.A.R.D.I.S. he took was already unreliable and obsolete at the time. Image via traed mawr [Flickr]
So Is He Really A Doctor?
People who don’t watch the show often wonder things like, “what kind of a doctor steals space ships and fights off alien robots?” The thing is, no one actually knows if The Doctor is actually a doctor. At times seems to have some medical knowledge and he’s even claimed to have studied medicine, but he also has said specifically that he’s not a physician. When he’s with Martha Jones, he tends to insist on her doing anything medical-related, saying, “she’s a doctor; I’m The Doctor.” Perhaps the person who explained it the best was his nemesis, The Master, who quipped that it was quite sanctimonious for The Doctor to label himself as "the man who makes people better.”
Consistent Inconsistencies
It’s not too surprising that a sci-fi show about time and space travel that’s lasted for so long has started to build up some inconsistencies. Fortunately, the new head writer/producer, Steven Moffat (who also created Coupling), has great ways to answer all of those burning fan questions regarding the show’s continuity problems. One of the biggest issues with The Doctor is the matter of age. At first the writers decided that every time he regenerated, his age should be turned back, but this only lasted through the first regeneration and since then, his age was recorded as going forward. At times The Doctor claims to be 450 years old, 650 years old and even 906 years old. Steven Moffat has simply explained that The Doctor does not know his own age because his non-linear existence via time travel has made this calculation impossible. In other situations, the entire history of races, such as the Daleks, have been rewritten as time has progressed. Steven Moffat simply explains these concerns away by noting, "a television series which embraces both the ideas of parallel universes and the concept of changing time can't have a continuity error — it's impossible for Doctor Who to get it wrong, because we can just say 'he changed time',” Are you a fan of the show? And those of you who are fans, how do you feel about the spin offs and do you know any interesting trivia I didn’t mention here? Image via Jim Linwood [Flickr] Sources: BBC #1, #2, Dr. Who Profile, BBC News #1, #2, #3, #4, Wikipedia #1, #2, #3, #4, #5
When I went to Disneyland over the weekend, Alex asked me if I could take some shots of the hidden Mickeys around the park. I knew there is supposedly at least one on every ride, so I agreed, thinking it was an easy project. Little did I know just how difficult hidden Mickey spotting can be and how much debate goes in to the definition of a hidden Mickey. So on top of sharing some hidden Mickey images with you, I'd like to open the floor to your interpretations and ask if any of you readers have photos of the phenomenon. Let me start off by saying just how difficult it can be to spot hidden Mickeys (let alone photograph those of them on the rides). On our first day in the park, my boyfriend and I spent about an hour in The Golden Horseshoe eating ice cream and enjoying the musical stylings of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. While in the saloon, I looked ceiling to floor to find a Mickey. Eventually, I decided there must not actually be one in The Golden Horseshoe. When I got back to the hotel though, I thought I'd check the internet just to make sure. That's when I discovered that the only one in the building is one tiny Mickey in the central vent under the stage. That's when it started to strike me just how hard this project was really going to be.
That's also when I started to realize just how hard it is to define a hidden Mickey. While it seems like a basic concept, the definition of "hidden" is quite open. I read a few forums where people argued about this idea and even as we started spotting our own hidden Mickeys, my boyfriend and I started debating over what was too obvious to be considered hidden. For example, I thought these Mickey rivets should be considered hidden because they weren't something you'd expect and you certainly wouldn't notice them on first glance. On the other hand, he felt they were simply decorations and too in-your-face to be hidden.
Mickey's House in Toon Town proved to be an excellent example of this concept as everything is already Mickey themed. Do the obvious music notes and metronome count?
And if those are considered to be too obvious, then what about the tiny Mickey heads on the book backs of both Mickey and Minnie's favorite titles?
Were these lights in the movie theater too obvious?
The matter only became more problematic from that point on. While some Mickey's were very obvious and intentional, like the rock formation below, it's sometimes hard to determine if any given arrangement of three circles beside one another would count.
Did the Disney gardeners intentionally clip the cactus so it would form a Mickey head?
Does a hidden Mickey have to be completely closed and circular to count?
And what about the layout of the three umbrellas in this billboard seen in California Adventure?
On our final day, we thought our questions may finally be answered when we ran across a book titled Disneyland's Hidden Secrets: A Field Guide to Disneyland Resort's Best Kept Secrets. Once we started browsing through the book though, we soon realized that it was not written by an imagineer or someone else with a definitive authority on the subject, but simply an avid Disney fan. In fact, the book had many of the questionable hidden Mickey examples that we also saw on line. For example,can Smee's eyes and nose on this wood carving really be considered a Mickeyface?
And is this decoration on the stalls in Downtown Disney really secret enough to be considered hidden?
I guess that like so many other things in life, there is no definitive answer as to what is, or is not, a hidden Mickey (at least not until the imagineers come forward and list off every one they intentionally embedded in the rides and shops.) So rather than speculating, let's just step back and appreciate the pictures of the following "subtle Mickey" images from around the park.
Charlie Chaplin was one of the greatest directors and actors the cinema has ever seen, but, like most great artists, his life was filled with controversy and struggle. While most people in modern times only know about his brilliant works, his private life and public scandals were equally fascinating. To celebrate this great man, let’s take a look at all those little things you may not have known about Hollywood’s favorite Tramp.
He Had Exceptionally Humble Beginnings
Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London to two music hall actor/vocalists on April 16, 1889. His parents separated when he was only three and he lived with his mother and younger brother. When Charlie was only five, he got his first taste of acting when he had to take stage to fill in for his mother, Hannah Chaplin, after her voice went out in the middle of a show. Throughout his childhood, he had to help his mother scrimp and save, particularly when she started losing her voice and increasingly began suffering from mental illness. The family was so poor, Hannah even pawned off her children’s spare clothing just to help make ends meet.
By the time Charlie was seven, the family was forced to go to a workhouse and after only a few weeks, Charlie and his brother were sent to an orphanage. Hannah regained control of the boys soon after, but when she suffered from a serious mental breakdown, they were forced to live with their father and his mistress for a while. This was when Charlie joined up with his first acting troupe, the Lancashire Lads. Only a few years later, his father died of cirrhosis of the liver. By 1910, Charlie had established a strong reputation in the local acting scene and he was able to tour the U.S. as a featured player in the Fred Karno Repertoire Company.
The American Dream
Upon traveling to America, he quickly became a favorite performer in the troupe. He returned home to England for a short while before touring America a second time in 1912. This was where Charlie got his big break. When the troupe was seen performing by director Mack Sennett and actors Mabel Normand, Minta Durfee and Fatty Arbuckle, Charlie was spotted and offered a contract with the Keystone Film Company. Funny enough, one of the biggest names of film history actually had a hard time adjusting his acting methods to translate to film. Originally, Sennett thought he had made a big mistake after working with Charlie on his first film, Making a Living. Fortunately, Mabel Normand convinced the director to give Chaplin another chance and soon enough, a star was born.
The Gentleman Meets The Tramp
Charlie’s best known role was as the iconic “Tramp” character, which he portrayed in a number of films throughout the silent era of film and even in a few pictures after “talkies.” He first developed the character for his second movie role in Mabel’s Strange Predicament. Mack Sennett had told Charlie “get into a comedy make-up,” but Chaplin didn’t really know what that meant, so he freestyled it. Charlie put together a cane, baggy pants, a tight coat, huge shoes and a small derby hat. Because his character in the movie was supposed to be old, he added a small mustache so he could look older by still show expressions. Charlie said the character of the Tramp came as soon as he was dressed:
“the clothes and the makeup made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked on stage he was fully born.”
If you’re wondering just where Charlie got the Tramp’s clothing, you have his friends on the movie set to thank. Fatty Arbuckle provided the pants and the hat was Fatty’s father-in-law’s. Chester Conklin gave him the coat and the shoes belonged to Ford Sterling. The shoes were so large that Charlie had to wear them on the wrong feet just so they would stay on. Interestingly, Charlie’s first movie featuring the Tramp character wasn’t the first one released to the public. Instead, it was his second film, Kid Auto Races at Venice. Also interesting, the Tramp was in the first ever movie trailer shown in an American theater.
But What He Really Wanted Was To Direct, And Produce, And Compose…
Charlie’s sense of humor and immaculate comedic timing led to his quickly being trusted to direct and edit his own films at Keystone. In his first (and only) year with the company, Chaplin made 34 shorts and a feature film. In 1915, signed with Esseney Studios where he was also able to direct his own pictures, but he left their company within a year to begin working with the Mutual Film Corporation who gave him an even larger salary and nearly complete creative control. He started producing films in 1916 and when he started working with First National in 1917, he was given complete control of all of his projects.
He was a self-taught musician and played the cello and violin and even started composing the music to his films in 1918. In 1919, Chaplin decided he had enough of the existing Hollywood studios and he co-founded United Artists with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith. This allowed him complete creative control on all of his projects for the rest of his life. In July of 1925, Charlie was the first actor to be featured on “Time Magazine.”
Silence in the Era of Talkies
One of the reasons Charlie’s Tramp character did so well was that it was able to transcend language barriers and cultural differences. People from all over the world could view a Chaplin film and identify with the gentlemanly vagrant and laugh at the bumbling authority figures. Charlie was so good at filming silent pictures that he continued to do so for years after the public demanded movies with dialogue from all of his peers. Some of his best known silent classics, including The Circus and Modern Times, were actually made after talking became commonplace in movies. Modern Times even does contain talking, although it is still considered a silent movie. It’s just that the only things that really talk are inanimate objects like radios. At the very end, audiences were able to hear Chaplin’s voice on film for the first time, while he sang gibberish lyrics. This was the last film Charlie made with the Tramp and it let the character take a quick step into modern movie history while staying true to his silent roots.
A Perfectionist That Hated Commitments
Charlie was considered a difficult director to work with because he was so intent on ensuring everything looked perfect on the film. He was notorious for shooting several takes of every scene during the silent films era, a time period where it was rare to reshoot even one scene. Some people even said that he was willing to shoot the same scene more than one hundred times until he was satisfied. He was known to get so upset about the wasted time and film that he would lash out at his actors and crew members and often would shut down production in a fury. At the same time though, Charlie almost never used scripts until he started working on talking pictures in 1940. He developed a method where he would start with a vague premise and then build a set and start working on gags and plot devices. He often would work out the ideas on film and then end up having to redo whole scenes because the narrative structure ended up making a scene no longer make sense in the context of the story. Strangely, no one in the general public knew about his filming techniques until after he died and the film Unknown Chaplin was released with outtakes and cut sequences showing his filming style.
A Daring Political Stance
While The Great Dictator is considered a classic these days, it was somewhat controversial when it came out in 1940 because the U.S. was still following a policy of pacifism. Chaplin’s Adenoid Hynkel infuriated the person it was based on, Adolf Hitler, and, unsurprisingly, the film was banned in Germany. While the movie was nominated for Academy Awards in the Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor categories, it did not bring home any awards, which many people believe had more to do with the politics of the film than its actual timing.
Being Persecuted By The Mann
Although Chaplin was obviously against Hitler and was encouraging the U.S. to join the war long before Pearl Harbor, he was still the subject of public anger when he declined to support the war effort once it did get started. The biggest reason he did not help drive the sales of bonds, like he had in the first World War, was that he was in the middle of a political scandal that involved both civil and criminal charges.
In 1942, he had a brief affair with a young actress named Joan Barry, and at one point, he may have paid for her to go to New York City, where they shared a hotel room together. Unfortunately, Joan got pregnant in the next year or so and publicly claimed that the child was Chaplin’s (it wasn’t). When the news went public, it meant that Charlie had to go to court for child support hearings and it meant that federal investigators could chose to try him under the Mann act. The Mann Act made it a crime to transport a woman across state lines for immoral purposes. While it was created to prevent prostitution, it ended up being used as a way to prosecute people who were seen as immoral.
Charlie beat the criminal charges, but he lost at the civil trial and was forced to pay child support even though a blood test proved that the child wasn’t his. This case was largely responsible for a change in California law stating that blood tests could be used as evidence in civil trials. Even if he had won though, the damage to his reputation could never be removed.
He Had A Thing For Younger Ladies
Speaking of Charlie’s love life, he was always attracted to women who were far younger than he was. When he spent the night with 22 year old Joan, Chaplin was 53, and that wasn’t the largest age gap of his relationships. In fact, biographer Joyce Milton claims that Charlie was the inspiration for the book Lolita. His first marriage was to a 16 year-old actress, Mildred Harris (seen above), and took place when Charlie was already 29. Chaplin’s next wife was also 16 when they started dating, only at this point, he was 35. When he was 43, he started dating his next wife, 22 year old Paulette Goddard. The worst age difference though was between Chaplin and the wife he stayed with until death, Oona O’Neil. Charlie was 54 years old at the time of the wedding, while the bride had just turned 18.
McCarthyism Crushes An American Success Story
Modern Times was considered to be a bit critical of capitalism and when Charlie urged America to set up a second European front to support Russia, it was more than enough to convince J. Edgar Hoover (seen above) that Chaplin was a communist. The fact that he married two 16 year old girls by this time hadn’t helped improve his image with the feds. Hoover ordered the FBI to keep detailed reports on him and tried to end his U.S. residency. At one point, congress tried to bring him in as a witness during the McCarthy hearings, but they kept pushing the date back and eventually canceled the order. In 1952 though, Chaplin visited the U.K. to help push his newest film, Lamplight, and Hoover took the opportunity to exile him for good. He was able to pull some strings and get Charlie’s re-entry permit denied so he could not return to America. Rather than fight the decision, he got fed up and decided to instead move to Switzerland, saying:
“Since the end of the last world war, I have been the object of lies and propaganda by powerful reactionary groups who, by their influence and by the aid of America's yellow press, have created an unhealthy atmosphere in which liberal-minded individuals can be singled out and persecuted. Under these conditions I find it virtually impossible to continue my motion-picture work, and I have therefore given up my residence in the United States."
Keeping Hope Alive
Chaplin didn’t let a little thing like relocation stand in the way of his work though, he instead started making films in Europe instead. Unsurprisingly, his first of these movies, A King in New York, was a satire of the political prosecution he had recently undergone. Ten years later, he made his final film, A Countess from Hong Kong, which starred Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando. Charlie’s only appearance in the film was a brief cameo where he played a seasick man. He also composed the music for this film and the theme became a number one hit in the U.K. His health started to fade around this point and he then started writing his autobiography, which was published in 1964. Next, he worked on composing original scores for his early silent pictures and re-released them. He also created a pictorial autobiography that was published in 1974.
Delayed Recognitions
Charlie was first suggested for knighthood in the thirties, but he was never actually knighted until 1975, when he was 85 years old. He also was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1970 after many people were angered that he was not one of the people originally honored in 1961. Funny enough, he had his handprints and footprints immortalized in the cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater, but after all the scandals, the section of cement was removed and now many believe it is lost. Although Chaplin won one Academy Award at the first ceremony in 1929, he never one another until 1972 when he was awarded an Honorary Award. It was his first visit to the U.S. since he was denied re-entry and he received the longest standing ovation in the award show’s history.
Death And Travel
In the late 60’s, Chaplin’s health began to deteriorate and he eventually died on Christmas Day 1977 at the age of 88. All in all, his entertainment career lasted over 75 years. Unfortunately, his trip underground wasn’t the last of his travels. His body was stolen in 1978 in an attempt to extort money from his family. After the robbers were captured, Charlie was buried under 6 feet of concrete to ensure this never would happen again.
Sources: Trivia Library, Wikipedia #1, #2, Time, BBC #1, #2, CharlieChaplin.com, Biography, Herald Sun, and IMDB.
On April 15, 1955, Ray Kroc opened his own McDonald’s franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois (seen below). While tons of people head to this so-called “first McDonald’s” every year, the fact is, the building standing there is not only not the first McDonald’s (Kroc actually opened the ninth location of the franchise), it’s not even the original building, but just a reconstruction. Even so, that spot of ground did have a huge impact on American life as we know it and spawned what was at one point the largest restaurant chain in the world --the title is now held by Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, etc.) and followed by Subway.
Image via ChicagoGeek [Flickr]
How Did McDonald’s Get Taken Over By Kroc?
When I was a kid, I always thought whoever Mr. McDonald was, he must be super rich. As it turns out, Richard and Maurice McDonald, who started the original restaurant, only made $2.7 million on the deal. While that does seem like a good amount of cash, just think how much the restaurant is worth these days. To make matters worse, the brothers insisted on retaining the rights to their first restaurant in San Bernardino, so Ray opened a McDonald’s restaurant right by theirs and ran them out of business. Worse still, even though the original deal involved the brothers earning 0.5% of the chain’s annual revenues, Kroc refused to honor that part of the verbal agreement after the McDonald’s brothers refused to sell him their original restaurant and the land it stood on.
And it’s not like the McDonald’s Brothers didn’t do anything but open an everyday burger joint; if they did, Ray probably wouldn’t have been so interested in taking the whole thing over. They innovated many of the ideas that have made modern fast food restaurants so successful, including assembly line kitchens, simplistic menus and self-serve counters. The menus had nothing on them but hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fries, potato chips, sodas, milkshakes and apple pies. Because things were so quick and efficient, prices were about half of what it cost to get a similar meal at a diner.
Image via _skynet [Flickr]
McDonald’s Across the Globe
It wasn’t too long after Kroc took over completely that the chain expanded out of America, first to Canada, then Costa Rica, Panama, Japan, Europe and Australia. These days, there's McDonald's located all over the world. In fact, the image above shows just how widely spread they are in the U.S. While this world-wide globalization has led to many negative views of the corporation, some people say the company has actually helped improve the standard of service in some areas of the world. For example, when McDonald’s opened in Hong Kong in 1975, it was the first restaurant to consistently offer clean public restrooms. Soon afterwards, customers began to demand the same from other restaurants in the area. Whether McDonald’s has a positive or negative impact in the country it enters may be a matter of opinion, but one thing the restaurant takes great pride in is their localization of the menu based on the native tastes of the area. Some interesting menu items from around the world include:
- Quebec has a regional treat known as poutine, which is a dish with French fries and cheese curds covered in gravy. McDonald’s in the area serve this as a popular side dish.
- Throughout Canada, you can order chicken fajitas from McDonald’s. This seemed weird to me that you can’t find these in South Western American states where fajitas are a popular staple of Mexican restaurants.
- In Egypt, you can find Big Macs with chicken or fish in place of beef and a “McFalafel” sandwich.
- Throughout the Middle East, McDonald’s offers a “McArabia” sandwich, which is a piece of flat bread with chicken or beef patties. They also serve a special wrap called the Paneer Salsa wrap, which takes fried, seasoned cottage cheese and wraps it in flat bread with veggies.
- Most Indian menus are largely different than those in America, as pig and cow products are not served outside of Southern India. The chicken and fish are also prepared in separate areas because or strict religious laws regarding the preparation of food for vegetarians. One of the area’s specialties is the Maharaja Mac, which was originally made with lamb meat but now is made with chicken. They also serve a dish called the McCurry pan, which consists of a bowl made from flakey dough filled with chicken in a tomato-curry sauce. Of all the international McDonald’s menu items, I think this is the one I’d want to try the most.
- Throughout Asia, you can order a side of McRice in place of fries, this is just an order of plain rice with a cool name.
- In China, you can enjoy pineapple and taro pies and a Shogun burger with teriyaki pork. You might also consider the Rice Fantastic, which is like a beef or chicken sandwich with rice patties in place of buns.
- On the Chinese island of Cheung Chau, you can also enjoy mushroom burgers in place of beef during the local Bun Festival.
- In Japan, they serve something called the Ebi Fillet-O, which is a fried shrimp sandwich. There is also a Tamago Double Mac, which has three beef paties, a poached egg, bacon and pepper sauce. You can even top off your meal with tea milkshakes.
- In Thailand they sell corn pies.
- In Finland and Norway, you can have wraps with fried fish instead of chicken or beef.
- In El Salvador, you can often have French fries made with yucca instead of potatoes.
- In Mexico, a popular breakfast option is the McMolletes, English muffins with refried beans, cheese and pico de gallo salsa.
- In New Zealand, a popular favorite is the Kiwiburger, which has beef, a poached egg, veggies, cheese and beetroot.
Images via Weather Sealed, xetark [Flickr], Allan Reyes [Flickr],
Good Ol’ American Innovation
Even in America, certain locations have their own specialty treats. The McLobster and McCrab are served seasonally throughout New England. And in the late 1990’s, Chicago locations offered a hamburger with barbecue sauce and Canadian bacon that was dubbed “the Beef Wennington” after a notable Chicago Bulls player.
Many of the company’s biggest successes were actually created locally by franchisees, including the Filet-O-Fish, the Big Mac and the Egg McMuffin. The Filet-O-Fish was made by a Cincinnati franchise owner who wanted to offer his Catholic customers a meal they could still eat on Fridays and during lent. Ray Kroc tried a similar idea at his original restaurant, but his Hula Burger, a sandwich a pineapple slice in place of meat was a huge flop.
As for the Big Mac, it was created by an early Pittsburgh franchiser who wanted to serve something adults would enjoy when feeding their kiddos at the restaurant. The corporate heads told him he could only create new menu items creating ingredients on the existing menu, which is where the Big Mac was born. The Egg McMuffin was in a similar position as the Big Mac inventor, only he went ahead and added a new creation to the menu without contacting headquarters. The corporation was quite upset that he started selling the McMuffin without their blessing, but they quickly changed their minds when they saw how popular it was. Image Via VirtualErn [Flickr]
McDecor
It’s not only the menu that headquarters like to keep consistent. Locations are largely required to look similar to one another on the inside. That’s not to say there aren’t a few stand out locations though. The “Solid Gold McDonald’s” by the Rock and Roll of Fame is themed after fifties rock and roll. Victoria, British Columbia has a restaurant with a 24-carat gold chandelier and other fancy light fixtures (seen above). The McDonald’s in Stratford-upon-Avon has a very subtle design, as all buildings in the area are required to conform to the historic look of Shakespeare’s birthplace. Whether you love McDonald’s or loathe it, there’s no arguing that the restaurant has had a huge impact on our society. Heck, Fast Food Nation has estimated that one of eight workers in America have been employed at the restaurant at some point of their lives. So you guys have any weird McDonald’s in your area? Maybe one with unique menu items or a strange design.
Image Via buschap [Flickr]
Sources Mental Floss #1, #2, Food Network Humor, Wikipedia #1, #2, #3
What could be better than little yellow chicks being born from multi-colored Easter eggs? Why multi-colored Easter chicks being born from regular eggs, of course.
The picture on the left is not photoshopped. That's really what the chicks look like. Their eggs were injected with dye, leaving the little ones colored upon hatching. Once their new feathers grow out, they'll be normal-colored again, but for now, they're mighty festive.
Link
The picture on the left is not photoshopped. That's really what the chicks look like. Their eggs were injected with dye, leaving the little ones colored upon hatching. Once their new feathers grow out, they'll be normal-colored again, but for now, they're mighty festive.
Link
On its face, April Fools’ Day seems like a lighthearted opportunity to play practical jokes and pranks on your friends and coworkers, but it’s easy to see the problem with having such a wacky day filled with falsities and gags. Namely, what happens when something of real consequence actually takes place on April 1st, but people don’t believe it because they automatically think it’s a prank? Here’s a few true tales of actual events that occurred on April 1st that were anything but gags.
Giggling at Google
Google is known for announcing ridiculous news stories, such as telepathic search engines and job openings on the moon, on April Fools’ Day. The thing is, when you are known for this sort of tom foolery, it makes it difficult to be taken seriously when you have real news on April 1st. Humorously enough, the company has decided to take advantage of the viral marketing people give to the news they announce that day, so they have actually made announcements for real products and services at the same time. In 2004 (the same year they created job listings for the moon), they announced the release of Gmail. While this may not seem all that funny, many people still thought it was a prank because the idea of a mail service with one full gigabyte of storage seemed preposterous –at the time, Hotmail only offered 2 megabytes. They followed the success of this announcement by announcing the increase of the mail service’s storage to two gigabytes the next year, also on April Fools’ Day.
In a company that plays such major pranks on the nation every year, it seems likely that the employees must play some really great jokes on each other come April 1st. As such, when an employee’s pet ball python escaped its enclosure on the holiday, the news was met with some disbelief. Unfortunately, this time the news was real. An email was sent out to the entire staff that started out, “The timing of this email could not be more awkward.” It then moved on to say:
“Tempting as it might be, this is not an April Fool's joke! We are sending this message to alert you to the situation and to let you know what to do in the event you see the snake. “
At least the sender recognized the humor of the situation. In case you were worried about the critter, he was eventually found and returned to his owner’s house a few days later. Image via Char1iej [Flickr]
Dimming the Guiding Light
Whereas Google has mastered the art of cleverly announcing real news on April Fools’ Day in order to play with the minds of the public, CBS obviously has a lot to learn about making serious announcements on April 1st. Last year, they infuriated a number of loyal viewers by announcing the cancellation of the seventy-two year old daytime soap Guiding Light on April Fools’ Day. As one angry commenter wrote on TV Squad:
“If it's true, you're jerks for announcing it today. And if it's not true, then everyone who believes you was a jerk for believing such a story on April Fools’ Day.”
A Depressing Day For Death
Unfortunately, not all real news on April Fools’ Day is as minor as a lost python or canceled TV show. There are many situations where people do not believe a person has died, simply because of the date. Unfortunately, the three best examples of this are all so strange that it’s not surprising that people believed the news to be a hoax. In 1984, one day before his 45th birthday, Marvin Gaye was murdered by his own father after intervening in an argument between his parents. Many fans refused to believe the news because it seemed so odd that his dad would have been the murderer. It wasn’t until the news was confirmed officially that many people stopped believing the murder was more than a cruel April Fools’ Day joke. Surprisingly, Marvin Senior was only found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to five years imprisonment because his son beat him before the shooting.
Not A Set Up For A Tasteless Joke
If you heard a NASCAR champion nicknamed "The Polish Prince" died in a Hooters corporate plane on April Fools’ Day, would you believe it? A lot of fans thought they were hearing a bad joke in 1993 when racing star Alan Kulwicki was announced to be dead in exactly those circumstances. Image via jbspec7 [Flickr]
A Funny Day To Announce An Unfunny Death
Is there a more fitting day for a comedian to die than April Fools’ Day? While Mitch Hedberg actually died on March 30, 2005, the news wasn’t spread to the media until very late on March 31st. Not surprisingly, many people thought the death was merely a prank or a bad publicity stunt put on by Mitch himself.
Don't Doubt The Danger Warnings
Perhaps the only situation that is worse than one person dying on April Fools’ Day is the so-called April Fools’ Tsunami of 1946, when over 100 people died, largely because they believed storm warnings were a joke. The incident occurred after an massive earthquake on the Aleutian Islands near Alaska, which caused a series of massive tidal waves that spread all the way to South America. Most of the damage hit Hawaii though, where the tsunami reached up to 45 feet tall. Unfortunately, because so many people doubted the news of the impending tidal wave and refused to evacuate, over 165 people died -159 of them in Hawaii.
Interestingly, perhaps this was a bit of a sick prank on the part of Mother Nature, because scientists are still unable to find any reason the 7.8 magnitude earthquake was able to launch such a massive tsunami. It was originally thought that the waves were intensified by a major underwater landslide in the area, but scientists have still found no evidence of this hypothetical landslide. One of the researchers who recently mapped the ocean floor looking for a landslide in the area summed up the matter by noting, "almost 60 years after the event, the 1946 tsunami is still making fools of all of us." What about you, readers? Have you ever thought something that happened on April 1st was actually a joke, only to find out later that it was actually 100% true?
With all the food monstrosities featured on Neatorama on a regular basis, is it any wonder that we are huge fans of March 28th’s Something On A Stick Day? After all, aside from wrapping something with bacon, how else can you improve any given food so easy? Of course, if you wrap bacon around most of these top ten foods on a stick, you could only make them better.
On second thought, why wrap everything with bacon when you could just put a thick slice of bacon on a stick? To make things even better, try coating it with French fries glued on with corndog batter and then deep fry it. As the creator says, you could make it a bacon wrapped hot dog on a stick, but why bother with the inferior hot dog meat?
Link
If you like your bacon to be served on the sweet side though, perhaps you’d prefer this delightfully disgusting treat. Simply take some thick-cut bacon and fold it around a stick, then wrap it in angel food, deep fry it all and then dunk it in chocolate. Got milk?
http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/post/201014782/chocolate-bacon-pogo-on-a-stick-bacon-wrapped-in
Perhaps fatty pig but isn’t your favorite deep-fried animal remnant though. Maybe you like chicken innards or blood. If you think gizzards and fried hearts are gross, you’d better stay away from the street food in the Philippines, where deep fried chicken intestines and gelatinous chicken blood are both served on sticks. At least the chicken blood is kind of good for you.
Link #1, Link #2
The street food of the Philippines has nothing on the diversity of the food stalls on the streets of Beijing though. Many visitors to the Olympics have written about their surprise about finding scorpions, dung beetles, lizards, starfish, seahorses and more on a stick. According to Sun Hainan, a young food trader in the area, “Seahorses are good for men's kidneys and their virility, Crustaceans are good for girls -they improve their skin and looks- and lizards boost virility.”
Link Image via AudreyH [Flickr]
There’s something about batter that just makes things on a stick that much more delicious. Compare the image of seahorses on a stick to this delightfully Japanese treat of tempura octopus tentacles on a stick. It’s hard to deny this treat would only look half as tempting without the delightful tempura batter.
Link
While other countries may think they have the on-a-stick concept down, I’m still convinced it’s something Americans have in their blood. After all, who else but a Southern woman (namely Paula Deen) would think to pair her deep-fried turkey with stuffing on a stick?
Link
Americans even improve the foods of other nations. While the picture may look like a simple meatball on a stick, it is much more. There is actually pasta cooked right inside the meatball itself to create a full spaghetti and meatball dinner with just one stickful of goodness.
Link Image via Deacon Steve [Flickr]
Of course, not all foods on a stick need to be deep fried. These minipies on a stick aren’t exactly great for you, but at least they’re baked rather than fried. Think of them as soft, chewy lollipops, or as pies you can munch on the go.
Link
Speaking of delicious sweet treats on a stick, how about some little cinnamon rolls? The creator, Zoe, apparently makes an array of bread products on sticks, but what could be better than a cinnamon roll pop? Zoe created these treats and others to compete in the prestigious Minnesota State Fair. Just check out some of their amazing stick-foods available.
Link
The Minnesota State Fair’s Oodles of Noodle booth just might have been where This Is Why You’re Fat reader Emily Fredrix discovered this ooey-gooey deep-fried s’more on a stick.
http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/post/77794790/deed-fried-smore-on-a-stick-via-emilyfredrix
If you’re looking for a DIY on-a-stick project that makes a great gift, you might want to consider making some of these delicious and lovely hot chocolates on a stick. Simply use the stick as a stirrer in a cup of warm milk and you’ll have rich, creamy cocoa that’s sure to keep you warm in the winter.
Link
Your turn readers. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen on a stick? Also which of these would you most likely snack on? I have to admit, I think the s’more on a stick looks like pure heaven.
French Fry Wrapped Bacon On A Stick
On second thought, why wrap everything with bacon when you could just put a thick slice of bacon on a stick? To make things even better, try coating it with French fries glued on with corndog batter and then deep fry it. As the creator says, you could make it a bacon wrapped hot dog on a stick, but why bother with the inferior hot dog meat?
Link
Angel Food, Bacon & Chocolate On A Stick
If you like your bacon to be served on the sweet side though, perhaps you’d prefer this delightfully disgusting treat. Simply take some thick-cut bacon and fold it around a stick, then wrap it in angel food, deep fry it all and then dunk it in chocolate. Got milk?
http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/post/201014782/chocolate-bacon-pogo-on-a-stick-bacon-wrapped-in
Chicken Parts On A Stick
Perhaps fatty pig but isn’t your favorite deep-fried animal remnant though. Maybe you like chicken innards or blood. If you think gizzards and fried hearts are gross, you’d better stay away from the street food in the Philippines, where deep fried chicken intestines and gelatinous chicken blood are both served on sticks. At least the chicken blood is kind of good for you.
Link #1, Link #2
Oddities On A Stick
The street food of the Philippines has nothing on the diversity of the food stalls on the streets of Beijing though. Many visitors to the Olympics have written about their surprise about finding scorpions, dung beetles, lizards, starfish, seahorses and more on a stick. According to Sun Hainan, a young food trader in the area, “Seahorses are good for men's kidneys and their virility, Crustaceans are good for girls -they improve their skin and looks- and lizards boost virility.”
Link Image via AudreyH [Flickr]
Tempura Octopus On A Stick
There’s something about batter that just makes things on a stick that much more delicious. Compare the image of seahorses on a stick to this delightfully Japanese treat of tempura octopus tentacles on a stick. It’s hard to deny this treat would only look half as tempting without the delightful tempura batter.
Link
Dressing On A Stick
While other countries may think they have the on-a-stick concept down, I’m still convinced it’s something Americans have in their blood. After all, who else but a Southern woman (namely Paula Deen) would think to pair her deep-fried turkey with stuffing on a stick?
Link
Meatball Dinner On A Stick
Americans even improve the foods of other nations. While the picture may look like a simple meatball on a stick, it is much more. There is actually pasta cooked right inside the meatball itself to create a full spaghetti and meatball dinner with just one stickful of goodness.
Link Image via Deacon Steve [Flickr]
Pies On A Stick
Of course, not all foods on a stick need to be deep fried. These minipies on a stick aren’t exactly great for you, but at least they’re baked rather than fried. Think of them as soft, chewy lollipops, or as pies you can munch on the go.
Link
Cinnamon Rolls On A Stick
Speaking of delicious sweet treats on a stick, how about some little cinnamon rolls? The creator, Zoe, apparently makes an array of bread products on sticks, but what could be better than a cinnamon roll pop? Zoe created these treats and others to compete in the prestigious Minnesota State Fair. Just check out some of their amazing stick-foods available.
Link
S'more On A Stick
The Minnesota State Fair’s Oodles of Noodle booth just might have been where This Is Why You’re Fat reader Emily Fredrix discovered this ooey-gooey deep-fried s’more on a stick.
http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/post/77794790/deed-fried-smore-on-a-stick-via-emilyfredrix
Hot Chocolate On A Stick
If you’re looking for a DIY on-a-stick project that makes a great gift, you might want to consider making some of these delicious and lovely hot chocolates on a stick. Simply use the stick as a stirrer in a cup of warm milk and you’ll have rich, creamy cocoa that’s sure to keep you warm in the winter.
Link
Your turn readers. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen on a stick? Also which of these would you most likely snack on? I have to admit, I think the s’more on a stick looks like pure heaven.
March 20th is Big Bird’s sixth birthday. You may be wondering how he could be only six years old when he was the first Muppet on a show that has been on for over forty years, but the thing is that Big Bird (or just “Bird” as his friends like to call him) is always six years old. So although the Sesame Street favorite has been around for a whopping 41 years (meaning most of our readers had the chance to grow up watching him and that he got to meet Patricia Nixon while she was still the first lady), we at Neatorama are proud to say happy birthday to one of our favorite perpetual children.
Why Six?
Big Bird’s character was originally supposed to be more of a village idiot than a neighborhood friend, but within the first season, the writers and performers quickly started seeing a lot more potential in the innocent and sweet bird. They started envisioning him more as a curious child than a yokel and quickly morphed him more into a role model for the youngsters at home.
Big Bird’s young mind is always inquisitive and he always asks questions as a result. This not only gives kids a chance to learn the answers to questions he asks, but also teaches them that it’s good to ask about things they don’t understand. Big Bird helps children understand that it’s OK to not understand everything because even someone who’s eight feet and two inches tall still doesn’t know everything.
This also helps the character share morality lessons with kids without preaching to them because he is only reflecting on something he just learned.
All of Life’s Lessons
Big Bird continues to be one of the most prominent characters on Sesame Street. As such, he is often given the opportunity to teach some of the hardest life lessons to the home viewers.
Big Bird’s star role in the early 80’s episode about the death of Mr. Hooper was considered to be a milestone in children’s programming and may have been part of the reason he was selected to play such a key role in Jim Henson’s funeral, where he sang “It’s Not Easy (Being Green)” in memory of Jim, who created the Muppet family and played Kermit. At the end of the song, during which he almost broke into tears, he looked up at the ceiling and quietly said, “thank you Kermit.”
One of the other important lessons Bird taught kids was that just because adults don’t immediately believe you about something doesn’t mean you should stop trying to tell them about it. This came about when the producers of the show decided that the long running gag about Mr. Snuffleupagus never appearing when the show’s adults were around. When a string of sexual abuse cases hit the public eye in the early 80’s the staff worried that the gag might encourage kids to think that adults won’t believe them if they talk about something out of the ordinary, so finally Snuffy actually made himself known to the show’s adult characters. Perhaps Big Bird sums up the message best:
“Snuffy’s my best friend, he was never imaginary! It was just a matter of poor timing. Sometimes I would ask Snuffy to wait for me in one spot, then while I was away he would leave to go put on a tie or brush his teeth. And then when I came back he would be gone! But then one day he finally stuck around, and everyone could see that my friend Snuffy was real after all. I was so glad that day, because then I knew that my grown-up friends on Sesame Street would always believe me when I told them something that unusual but still true.”
He’s A Little Ahead of His Age
Just because he’s only six and a giant bird doesn’t mean Big Bird doesn’t have an array of skills and abilities. He can sing, dance, roller skate, ice skate, ride a unicycle, draw and write poetry. He also lives on his own in the nest on 123 Sesame Street. Well, actually, he does live with one friend, his teddy bear Radar, named for Walter “Radar” O’Reilly from M*A*S*H who was also naive and kept a teddy bear friend. Although Gary Burghoff gave Big Bird Radar during a guest appearance, later episodes claim that he was actually a gift from Mr. Hooper.
What Kind of A Bird Is He Anyway?
Big Bird’s species will likely remain a mystery through the ages, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been hinted at. He most commonly seems to say he is a lark, which started during a 1976 appearance on Hollywood Squares. He even reiterated this fact just last year in an interview with TV Guide. In the same interview though, he also calls himself a golden condor, an origin that started back in a 1981 episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
While many people assume he is supposed to be a canary because of his yellow coloring, it was only said by Ma Bear during the 1987 filming of A Muppet Family Christmas. The Swedish Chef responds to this one by looking at the bird and calling him “gobbla gobbla humungo.”
Oscar the Grouch seems to have his own theories about Big Bird. While he often calls him a giant turkey, he also called him “part homing pigeon” in the 1978 Christmas Eve on Sesame Street special. While his calling Bird a turkey is supposed to be an insult, it actually helped him hitch a ride on a turkey truck in the 1985 movie Follow That Bird because Big Bird was able to explain that "my friend Oscar always says that I'm a big turkey!" In fact, this is actually true to some extent, since only turkey feathers are used for the character’s costume.
Perhaps the best answer for Big Bird’s species though is that he’s a bit of a mixed bag bird. After all, he does have his own scientific name, "Bigus canaries,” according to the book Sesame Street Unpaved. And, in the 2004 special A Celebration of Me, Gover, Big Bird says, "I wish I could fly like Super Grover. But my Grandpa was an emu bird. They can't fly. But they can run! Every fall, Grandpa ran south for the winter."
Of course, everyone’s just going to see what they want to see. The Egyptian god Osiris called Big Bird an ibis during the movie Don’t Eat the Pictures. Personally, I like to think that he’s a canary emu mix.
The Effects of Aging
Just because Big Bird is only six doesn’t mean he hasn’t aged quite a bit throughout the years. Of course, his species must age rather well because he seems to be looking better than ever. The original Big Bird was designed to be clumsy and goofy to go along with his yokel behavior. He had googly pupils on occasion and rather raggedy feathers. His puppeteer, Caroll Spinney remarked on this original incarnation by saying, "He didn't look too keen. I thought he was one of the ugliest things I'd ever seen!"
Of course, this goofy design didn’t quite work out for the eternal child character they decided he should take on, so near the end of the first season, he was given a makeover. He received more feathers on his head and his eyelids were made to raise and lower. The puppeteers figured out a great way to enable him to move his right arm, which was originally pinned to his side (Caroll Spinney has to use one arm to move his mouth and the other for his left arm, which left his right arm useless). By the second season, his feathers were better groomed and they were a more constant shade of his trademark golden yellow hue.
In season eight, Big Bird was given three bright yellow highlights around his head (like those seen in the image above by Flickr user Anthony Grimley), which he maintains to this day, although the color and size shift through the years. In season ten, Big Bird received a more rounded head and a more shapely neck that largely resembles the current inceptions of the puppet since.
The costume itself is partially assembled by American & Fancy Feather. Because 90% of the feathers selected for the costume are rejected, the company’s owner, Anthony Trento, says Big Bird is his toughest customer.
Puppeteering the Giant
Big Bird is obviously one mammoth of a Muppet, so controlling him is quite a big job. Fortunately, the team has worked out some ingenious innovations to make Big Bird as lifelike as possible. For the most part, Big Bird is controlled by Caroll Spinney who uses his right arm to control big bird’s head, eyes and mouth movements and his left arm to control Bird’s left wing.
As I said earlier, the first version of the puppet was forced to have his hand tied down because it couldn’t be controlled. They fixed this first issue by tying fishing line to the puppeteer’s arm so the right arm would do the opposite of the left arm. When the arms need to be moved independently in movies, a green screen tool is used so a second puppeteer can stand behind the character and move his arm and then later be edited out of the shot. This cannot be done on the Sesame Street set because it is too vivid of a background.
That’s not the only major change the puppeteer has seen in his costume. While the early incarnations of Big Bird had a small mesh screen in the front of the neck for Caroll to see from, this was latter sealed off to make things look even more accurate. Instead, Mr. Spinney uses a video monitor in the front of the suit to navigate his way around. He says he also includes the scripts in his costume to make it easier to remember his marks.
When Big Bird performs on-location, he cannot use the monitor suit though, so the team uses a neck tie or tuxedo shirt to hide the screen on the front of the costume.
Image by Luis Rubio [Flickr]
Casting Call
Jim Henson was originally slated to play Big Bird and the first costume was actually built for him, but the man who built the costume told Henson that he wasn’t walking the way a bird should stroll, so Jim decided not to play the part. He then offered the role to Frank Oz, who is known for playing Bert, Grover and Cookie Monster, as Big Bird, but Oz refused largely due to claustrophobia related to being in the giant suit. Fortunately, Caroll Spinney took on the character and helped shape the creature into the endearing bird we know and love today.
Spinney has played Big Bird almost consistently since the show’s inception in 1969. Daniel Seagren performed in his place a few times when he was sick and also on a few appearances on other shows and in recent years, Rick Lyon and Matt Vogel (the main understudy) have taken on apprentice roles in anticipation of 76 year-old Caroll’s eventual retirement.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always loved Big Bird, and so do millions of other Americans. After all, you have to be pretty popular to have your own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (pictured above thanks to Flickr user GrahamKing) and to be featured on a postage stamp. I hope you all enjoyed learning about the character that helped so many of us learn!
Sources: SesameStreet.org, New Yorker, Muppet Wikia, New York Times, Wikipedia, Jim Henson: The Works
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