My friends sometimes say I have a problem with never shutting up. I bet if they met Lluis Colet, they might change their tune. In 2004, Colet was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for longest speech. His 2004 speech lasted 48 hours. Since then, the record was beaten, so Colet won it again, this time by talking for an amazing 124 hours. In the name of all people who talk too much, my hat is off to you Lluis.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.16c524e9b669346c610be26d34121f4a.951&show_article=1&catnum=9 Via Weird Stuff News
Whether you love Obama or hate him, you'll be happy to know there is now a tool to track how he has lived up to his campaign promises.
The Obameter has a compiled list of about 500 promises he made during the election run and it records if he: kept the promise, compromised, broke the promise, stalled the promise, is in the works on the issue or has not taken action on the promise. So far he's stalled one, compromised on one and kept five, but it will be nice to see how he does in the long run.
I wish we had these for every president. I'd love to know how Kennedy, Lincoln or Andrew Jackson did on their promises.
This knitted Valkyrie is certain to guide you into battle and take your soul to Valhalla. She's based on a Creepy Cute Crochet pattern, and the website provides all the modifications you need to make her.
Long exposure photos are so cool because they view things in ways your eyes never could. Digital Photography School has a great collection of long exposure images and the elapsed time it took for each image to come out. For some great images, I highly recommend visiting the site and looking at all of them.
This little critter is just too cute. Just look at her sitting there with her teddy bear mama. The best part is how exciting her birth is -she's one of only 17 of her species in captivity. More pics are available when you click the link.
It may be a little mean and silly, but I think this cute little dead dog purse is fantastic. Only problem, it's $317.
"Based on Paris Hilton's discarded pet Tinkerbell is an upside down dead Chihuahua. This design capitalizes on the trend of carrying a small dog as a fashion accessory."
First amendment rights can all just f--- off! Or at least, that's what one South Carolina senator thinks. State Senator Robert Ford has recently filed a bill to outlaw profanity statewide.
If you do say or write a profane word, the act could be punishable by five years in jail or a $5,000 fine.
Being a depression sufferer myself, I find it interesting and inspiring to see people deal with their chronic depression. I love seeing what people can do with their lives, despite the agonizing pain they have had to cope with. While we probably all know about Heath Ledger and Kurt Cobain, there are plenty of surprising celebrities with depression, like Harrison Ford. A few others you may not have know about include the five stars below.
Jim Carrey
In an interview during 60 Minutes, Mr. Carrey revealed that the inspiration behind his funny-man antics was “desperation.” Like many famous comics, Carrey channeled his emotional pain and scarring into humor. The laughter and attention brought from audiences helps ease the depression comedians feel and soothes their pain.
Carrey's attention getting antics started when he tried to entertain his sick mother. To get her spirits up, he'd do anything from impressions to rolling down the stairs. When he was young, he grasped on to an optimistic dream of making it big. In 1987, he wrote himself a check for ten million dollars "for acting services rendered." As it turns out, the check was a massive underestimate of what he ended up making when he cashed the check 1995. As financial worries lessened, so did his depression symptoms. He has since learned to better cope with his sadness and he says the valleys and peaks have gradually smoothed out a bit. While he used to take Prozac to help stabilize his mood, he now focuses on treatment through spirituality and clean living.
"If a really good comedian isn't depressed," says Bob Saget, "something's wrong." Rodney Dangerfield is no exception to this rule. Around the end of his life, he attended regular therapy sessions with his psychiatrist and took around 137 prescription drugs a day, including anti-depressants and Valium. Rodney’s father abandoned the family when he was a child and he was instead raised by a cold-hearted mother.
He found an outlet in writing jokes, and even remembers the first one. At age 4, Dangerfield finished dinner and whined, "I'm still hungry." "You've had sufficient," replied his mom. "But," said Rodney, "I didn't even have any fish."
He has had wild mood swings throughout his career and tried to escape the pain and suffering in every way imaginable, including prostitutes and drugs. His wife helped pull him through to the end, but he still experienced these problems until the end of his days.
J.K. Rowling will be the first to tell you about the hardships of being a single parent. In fact, in her darkest hour, she strongly contemplated suicide while suffering from a massive bout of depression. She missed her ex-husband and worried about finances, that’s when the dark thoughts started coming out. Fortunately, her daughter was there to inspire her to seek treatment:
“Mid-twenties life circumstances were poor and I really plummeted,” said Rowling. “The thing that made me go for help . . . was probably my daughter. She was something that earthed me, grounded me, and I thought, this isn’t right, this can’t be right, she cannot grow up with me in this state.”
Rowling opted too treat her depression with cognitive therapy rather than anti-depressants. This type of therapy seeks to cure the emotional problem, rather than treating it. The therapy involves a series of counseling sessions providing the sufferer with the mental tools to cope with their emotions. Rowling has been very forthright about her disorder in the hope she can help remove the stigma associated with mental illnesses.
Many people already know about Owen Wilson's depression. After all, his attempted suicide took over all the tabloid headlines at their local grocery stores two years ago. But, you may still be wondering why. The fact is, like millions of other Americans, Wilson is clinically depressed and will be throughout his lifetime. He has been battling depression by taking anti-depressants for years, however, breaking up with Kate Hudson pushed him beyond the effects of his medication and made him feel hopeless. While it has been debated whether Wilson was taking cocaine or heroin around this time, the fact is that either way, a major life change can dramatically endanger a depression sufferer.
Mrs. Shields is a perfect example of how beauty does not equal happiness. While not a lifelong depression sufferer, she has been very vocal about her experience with postpartum depression, an illness experienced by 13% of pregnant women and new mothers. Her book “Down Came The Rain” describes her experiences in detail.
Like many postpartum depression sufferers, she experienced a detachment from her baby daughter and self-destructive thoughts. At her lowest point, Brooke says she wanted to jump out of a window and throw the baby against a wall. Brooke began taking Paxil to cope with her emotions and eventually recovered. She now has a very close relationship with her daughter.
After being criticized by Tom Cruise for her use of anti-depressants, Brooke published an essay in the “New York Times” detailing the need for global recognition of postpartum depression and the use of anti-depressants for treatment.
This cute kid pygmy goat is just one of many precious little pygmy animals in the collection of tiny animal videos. Also portrayed are little rabbits, seahorses, hippos and possums.
McSweeney's has a fantastic compilation of childrens' letters to Obama. Some of them are so adorably fantastic. It seems to be kids between 5 and 12 mostly. Even if you don't like Obama, you still can appreciate the innocence of their words.
Dear President Obama,
When you are president, don't eat junk food. Junk food makes you fat. Your family shouldn't eat junk food, either, because it is not healthy. Obama, you rock.
Amy Ramirez, age 8 San Francisco
Dear President Obama, Are you going to be pictured on our money? How do you get in the White House? Do you like Abraham Lincoln? Do you have a big backyard? Martin Luther King Jr. had big fans. How many fans do you have? You could help us by giving us food. I am Luis Ramirez. I go to school at Mayberry. I like to play video games.
Whether you are a conspiracy theorist or just like the crazy animals they believe in, you'll love these cryptozoology toys. Featured creatures include Nessie the Lock Ness monster, Bigfoot, the chupacabra, the mothman and The Jersey Devil (who was new to me). But where's the abominable snowman?
Ever wondered what it would be like to travel in a jet-powered porta-potty? Me neither. Seeing someone else doing it still is interesting though. It's every ten year old boy's dream come true -a whole collection of jet and rocket powered vehicles, including fire trucks, recliners, tractors and more. Plenty of speed record holders here kiddos, so click the link and have fun exploring the speedy side of life.
In a strange traditional ceremony, two 7 year-old girls in Tamil Nadu, India were married off to two frogs.
The ceremony, an annual feature during the Pongal (harvest) festival, is conducted "to prevent the outbreak of mysterious diseases in the village''.
The girls, Vigneswari and Masiakanni, dressed up in traditional bridal finery -- gilded sarees and gold jewelery -- married the frog 'princes' in separate, elaborate ceremonies at two different temples in the presence of hundreds of villagers.
These are two frogs that will not be turning into fairytale princes, they actually got released back into temple ponds after the ceremony. I wonder if the girls are still allowed to get married when they grow up.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Two_minor_girls_married_off_to_frogs_in_Tamil_Nadu/rssarticleshow/3994895.cms Image Via Somegl [Flickr]
