Back before there were fancy vodka brands on the market making people pay hundreds of dollars a bottle just to impress others there was Smirnoff- the vodka that leaves you breathless.

Smirnoff has been the world's best-selling vodka for decades, and part of that success is due to their hip and edgy ad campaigns that make their brand feel very modern, like these ads from the 1960s starring some seriously famous faces.

The jazzy and stylish Smirnoff ads of the 60s starred people like Groucho Marx, Eartha Kitt, Woody Allen, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Johnny Carson, just to name a few.

They even got the famous poet and playwright Langston Hughes to pose for a Smirnoff ad in 1959, so their brand not only looked hip but progressive as well.

See more Hip Smirnoff Vodka Ads from the 60s at Dangerous Minds

Riding along interstate 90 in South Dakota, you expect to see roadside art. But a glorious new statue went up last year that dominates the landscape as she welcomes you. You'll find Dignity between exits 263 and 265 near Chamberlain.

She was created by artist Dale Lamphere, who has been South Dakota’s Artist Laureate since 2015. He received the commission from a local couple.  Eunabel and Norm McKie of Rapid City wanted to create something to commemorate the 125th anniversary of South Dakota’s statehood but they also wanted something which would celebrate the determination, wisdom and bravery of the state’s indigenous peoples, the cultural inheritance of the Lakota and Dakota.   The couple gave over a million dollars to support the project.

Dignity is 50 feet tall and constructed so that the wind flows through her blanket instead of pushing against it. Read all about this magnificent statue at Kuriositas. And look for her the next time you drive through South Dakota.

(Image credit: Amphibol)

Okay, to be technical, the carrot found a lost diamond engagement ring in the garden, and decided to wear it. Mary Grams of Camrose, Alberta, lost it while working in her garden in 2004.

"We looked high and low on our hands and knees," she said. "We couldn't find it. I thought for sure either they rototilled it or something happened to it."

She has had the ring since 1951, a year before she married her husband, Norman. After it was lost she quickly replaced it.

"I didn't tell him, even, because I thought for sure he'd give me heck or something," she said.

In 2017, her daughter-in-law pulled up a carrot that was wearing the ring.



Read the story of the carrot and the ring at CBC News. -via Peter Lindelauf

PS: It's not the first time this has happened.

Macho men like to perform feats of strength so they can show off how manly they are, and they constantly feel the need to prove their physical prowess is over 9000 so they don't drop a rank in their bro pack.

But losing face in front of your macho friends is preferable to losing a hand while trying to do something stupid like punching a bear trap, a lesson which ol' Dieter here learned the hard way.

(YouTube Link)

He bearly missed it, and now his arm looks a bit grizzly...meanwhile Uncle Punchy pulled the trick off without a hitch!

(YouTube Link)

-Via Boing Boing

Coffee, much like beer and whiskey, tastes like crap the first time it hits your tongue, and just like whiskey it burns on the way down and makes you wonder why you wanted to try that foul beverage in the first place.

But then you start to feel the effects and the attraction to that caustic liquid finally makes sense, and according to this comic from The Awkward Yeti some people fall so deeply in love with coffee they want to marry it.

Personally, I prefer to keep my relationship with coffee strictly friends with benefits...

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

According to this bread bag alignment chart by Aurelian Rabbit, I am a lawful neutral (my bread comes with a twist tie instead of a plastic clip), my husband was a chaotic neutral, and my children were chaotic evil through most of their time with me. Twitter followers had to inform Aurelian Rabbit that even with a bread box, you have to use the plastic bag the bread comes in. There aren't very many people who use a bread box anymore. Its utility is mainly in keeping people from stacking things on top of the bread and squishing it. -via Nag on the Lake

Back in 2011, we told you about Júzcar, Spain, the village that was painted blue. It was a publicity stunt by Sony Pictures, who agreed to use 4,200 liters of blue paint to cover every house in the village in order to promote its movie The Smurfs. But after the promotional period, the 250 or so residents of Júzcar voted to keep the blue color scheme. They discovered it to be quite a smurfy tourist attraction. Ever since, the town has been a destination for Smurf fans who travel from all over to see "the Smurf Village." That's about to come to an end. 

But a bitter dispute between the town hall and heirs of the Smurf creator, the Belgian comics artist Pierre Culliford whose pen name was Peyo, resulted in locals agreeing to pay 12 percent in royalties on all Smurf-related income.

However, in a noticed posted on the council website last week, the mayor’s office announced that from August 15th, all smurf related activities must cease – although the village will remain blue.

Labelled “important information for tourists”, the communique stated that Júzcar had “lost the authorization to market itself as a Smurf town” and “from Tuesday August 15th there will be no more statues or references to that brand”.

So if you are determined to see the Smurf Village in all it's smurfiness, you'll have to get to Júzcar in the next four days. -via Atlas Obscura

(Image credit: Flickr user CEDER Serranía de Ronda)

Boston Terrier's are little bundles of energy who will literally run themselves in circles to expend that energy so they don't explode like a little doggy grenade.

Their boundless energy also cause them to act in strange and unpredictable ways, as demonstrated by Riley the Boston Terrier who sometimes likes to pretend she's a shark.

Does anybody else do this or am I the only one?!? . . . . . . . #dogs #dogsofinstagram #puppiesofinstagram #pupsofinstagram #bostonterriersofinstagram #bostonterrier #dogsthathike #dogstagram #dogs_of_instagram #topdogsofinstagram #ilovebostonterriers #thepetscafe * Jukin Media Verified * Find this video and others like it by visiting https://www.jukinmedia.com/licensing/view/965352 For licensing / permission to use, please email licensing(at)jukinmedia(dot)com.

A post shared by Riley (@riley_thebostonterrier) on Jul 25, 2017 at 3:50pm PDT

Riley asked the other dogs on Instagram if they liked to pretend to be a shark too, to which they replied they'd rather pretend to be a waste disposal unit, a royal food taster or a squirrel but never a shark. I guess Riley swims to the beat of her own drum!

Based on the responses on my previous post I guess I am the only one . You should really try it out doggos, it's the best way to scratch your chin when your hooman won't...#unique #innovative . . . . . . . #dogs #dogsofinstagram #puppiesofinstagram #pupsofinstagram #bostonterriersofinstagram #bostonterrier #dogsthathike #dogstagram #dogs_of_instagram #topdogsofinstagram #ilovebostonterriers #thepetscafe

A post shared by Riley (@riley_thebostonterrier) on Jul 26, 2017 at 1:19pm PDT

-Via Laughing Squid

You know those really stupid news stories you read online then have to verify because it seems too dumb to be true? Men are sealing their penises shut to prevent pregnancy- tell me that's not one of the most verification-worthy headlines ever read online!

According to this New York Post article guys are using a product called Jiftip (NSFW) to seal their urethra shut with an adhesive decal so no sperm escapes during intercourse, which is neither safe nor effective.

The Jiftip website claims their product is meant to help men "feel your partner, feel freedom, feel smart", and yet their site also warns:

"Jiftip is NOT a condom. Because it's not approved for anything anywhere, let's make this clear: Use for novelty, pleasure, convenience, fun, or entertainment. THOU SHALT NOT USE FOR PREGNANCY OR STI PREVENTION PURPOSES."

This crotch catastrophy in the making is still in the beta testing phase, but health experts warn against anyone using the product for good reason:

Natika Halil, chief executive of sexual health charity the Family Planning Association, told The Sun Online: “There’s no evidence to suggest that this product is safe or effective, and it could potentially be very painful.

“As the company themselves say, it isn’t approved to prevent pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections — so if you want to avoid either of those, we’d recommend avoiding this product as well.

“It’s quite concerning that the company implies that sex without condoms isn’t ‘real sex,’ as condoms are the only form of contraception that can help prevent sexually transmitted infections.”

-Via NY Post

During World War I, the military needed enough food to fight, and civilians back home sacrificed so that they had it. But there weren't any treats. In fact, ice cream was considered "not essential," so the sugar that would have gone into its manufacture was diverted elsewhere, despite the pleas of the ice cream industry. That would change drastically over the next two decades, as Americans turned to ice cream during Prohibition as a substitute for alcohol, and then during the Great Depression as a rare affordable treat. Ice cream came to be associated with the American way of life. So when the U.S. joined in World War II, ice cream went with them.

In 1942, as Japanese torpedoes slowly sank the U.S.S. Lexington, then the second-largest aircraft carrier in the Navy’s arsenal, the crew abandoned ship—but not before breaking into the freezer and eating all the ice cream. Survivors describe scooping ice cream into their helmets and licking them clean before lowering themselves into the Pacific. By 1943, American heavy-bomber crews figured out they could make ice cream over enemy territory by strapping buckets of mix to the rear gunner’s compartment before missions. By the time they landed, the custard would have frozen at altitude and been churned smooth by engine vibrations and turbulence—if not machine-gun fire and midair explosions. Soldiers on the ground reported mixing snow and melted chocolate bars in helmets to improvise a chocolate sorbet.

Read more about the American obsession with ice cream, and how the frozen treat went to war, at the Atlantic. -via Metafilter

The Plaza Hotel in New York has a staff of 11 experienced butlers to treat their guests like royalty. Brandon Presser managed to join them for two days (after an express training session) to see what the job was like. What do hotel butlers do? Whatever it takes, from unpacking luggage to delivering ice, to making sure laundry is delivered on time.  

Another common request for the butler team is to draw baths with a signature blend of salt, oil, and roses—especially during the colder months of the year. But the butler’s duties aren’t necessarily complete once the tub is full. Bal, the Plaza’s resident bath-time specialist, said that 95 percent of the time, he’s asked to remain within arm’s reach as bathers suds-up. Most of them, he said, want more hot water or scented oil, and are happy to keep him on hand while they relax in the nude. He is often left to pull the plug from the drain, elbow-deep in leftover water.

It gets weirder.

Read more stories of butler experiences at the Plaza Hotel at Bloomberg. -via Digg

(Image credit: Zohar Lazar)

It can be hard for women to find an OB-GYN they feel comfortable with and even harder to find a doctor who makes you feel like they're just as concerned about the safety of your baby as you are.

But the truth is there aren't many obstetricians out there like Dr. Amanda Hess- because she's so dedicated to her profession she took a break from delivering her own baby to help deliver someone else's child.

Dr. Hess was in labor at her hospidal in Frankfort, Kentucky when she heard a woman screaim down the hall.

The woman was fully dilated and ready to deliver, but the on-call doctor was on break and wouldn't make it back in time, so

“I just put on a gown to cover my backside and put on some boots over my shoes, to keep from getting any fluid and all that stuff on me, and went down to her room," Hess told WKYT.

As it turned out, Dr. Hess knew the woman about to give birth, Leah Halliday Johnson. Dr. Hess, in fact, had even given Johnson her last checkup a few days earlier.

Dr. Hess, despite being in labor herself, immediately went to work. This was a relief to Johnson, who "was just glad to be able to get to push and have the baby out and not have to wait any longer," Hess told WKYT.

After delivering Leah's baby Dr. Hess went back in and gave birth to her own bundle of joy, and it seems little Ellen Joyce didn't mind waiting one bit.

-Via BuzzFeed

For generations fantasy nerds have dreamed of the moment when they are able to pull Excalibur out of the stone and become a mythic hero like King Arthur, but it ain't every day that you come across a magic sword in a stone.

However, Adam Savage was able to make a pretty sharp looking replica of Excalibur from the movie Excalibur out of aluminum as part of his One Day Builds series for Tested, and he found making a replica is nearly as hard as forging a real sword!

(YouTube Link)

All Adam has to do now is stick that sword into a prop stone in his front yard so he can start each day by pulling the sword from the stone and holding it aloft, exclaiming "I have the power!" Oh wait, that was He-Man...

-Via Sploid

The kids are asleep! That means it's time to do that thing. Meaning, all those things you can't get done when the kids are sucking up all your time and attention. How you prioritize that long list of things is up to you. In this case, the reward is a cleaner home, although tomorrow it will go back to chaos. It's one step forward and two steps back, but it's better than no steps forward at all. This is the latest from Lunarbaboon.

NASA launched Voyager I and Voyager II in 1977, on a 12-year mission to study and send back data from Jupiter and Saturn. That was the stated mission, as that was all that the U.S. government was willing to fund. However, scientists and engineers at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Lab had higher hopes for the probes. Forty years later, the two spacecraft are still sending back data, Voyager I from interstellar space, and Voyager II as it is crossing the the boundary of the solar system. Possibly even more surprising is that NASA engineers are still monitoring the mission.

All explorations demand sacrifices in exchange for uncertain outcomes. Some of those sacrifices are social: how many resources we collectively devote to a given pursuit of knowledge. But another portion is borne by the explorer alone, who used to be rewarded with adventure and fame if not fortune. For the foreseeable future, Voyager seems destined to remain in the running for the title of Mankind’s Greatest Journey, which might just make its nine flight-team engineers — most of whom have been with the mission since the Reagan administration — our greatest living explorers. They also may be the last people left on the planet who can operate the spacecraft’s onboard computers, which have 235,000 times less memory and 175,000 times less speed than a 16-gigabyte smartphone. And while it’s true that these pioneers haven’t gone anywhere themselves, they are arguably every bit as dauntless as more celebrated predecessors. Magellan never had to steer a vessel from the confines of a dun-colored rental office, let alone stay at the helm long enough to qualify for a senior discount at the McDonald’s next door.

Read about the engineers who've dedicated their lives to the Voyager mission at the New York Times. You can also keep up with the V-gers themselves by reading NASA's status page on the mission.  -via Metafilter

(Image credit: NASA/JPL)