Many aspects of the Disco era can be summed up with one Rick James quote from Chappelle's Show- "cocaine is a hell of a drug".
It's almost impossible to think of the Disco era without thinking of how drugs fueled the seemingly never-ending dance parties and made people think it was okay to dress like this:
Clubs like Studio 54, club Xenon and FunHouse played host to those beautiful young people who just wanted to boogie the night away- and one free spirited senior affectionately known as "Disco Granny":
Now I'm not saying Disco, and those involved in the scene, needed drugs to survive and thrive, but how do you explain what's happening in this photo without including a reference to drugs?
Ever since I first laid eyes on FACE BANK, the creepy robotic bank that swallows change, I've wanted to dissect it and see what lies beneath that blank stare.
I wondered- does the little coin muncher have a creepy robotic skull like a tiny T-800?, Is its tiny jaw strong enough to bite off a human finger? and does that creepy little guy feel pain?
Thanks to this video shared by father and son duo What's Inside? I don't have to spend my hard earned money on a FACE BANK to see what lies beneath its silicone skin.
And, most importantly, I don't have to explain to our robotic overlords why I sliced off the face of their offspring just to see what's inside...
When you get serious about making stuff you start to appreciate one trusty friend who's there for you throughout your crafting career- the aerosol can.
Aerosol spray covers quickly and easily, with minimal mess and practically no clean up, and nowadays many different mediums are available in spray cans, from chalkboard paint to water proof sealant.
But the most popular medium is spray paint, which is more convenient to use than brush-on paint, dries evenly and leaves no brush strokes, so your project has a uniform coat and a professional look.
So why use spray paint instead of a regular latex or acrylic paint out of the can?
It adheres to damn near everything you want to paint (they even have a spray paint for plastic that works like a charm), you rarely have to sand or prime the surface you're painting, and you can apply multiple coats without caking or flaking.
Life in a beautiful coastal town sounds idyllic to those who love the beach life and consider a day spent staring at the sea as a day well spent.
But between pollution, erosion, tsunamis, rising water levels and earthquakes many coastal towns are discovered to be less than ideal places to live, so people move out and leave the beach be.
That's what happened in the Vancouver town of Jordan River- the frequent earthquakes, and floods triggered by the earthquakes, left the town empty- except for one resident who refuses to move.
72-year-old Hugh Pite divides his time between his homes in Jordan River and nearby Brentwood Bay, and even though he has been warned of the dangers of living in Jordan River he says he'll never leave:
"I'm right across the road from the water and I go out there and I go surfing," Pite told CBC News. "If I didn't have the place there, I'd have to drive an hour and a half each way, which is in my opinion far more dangerous than the very slight chance of an earthquake."
Pite first learned to surf while living abroad in Australia in his early 20s. When he returned home to Vancouver Island in his early 30s, according to the Times Colonist, he came to know the surfing community in Jordan River. He purchased a home there in 1987.
The town has changed a lot since then—in the last year alone, it has dwindled from 100 residents—but Pite isn't concerned. He's keeping his little slice of paradise, even if that means "it's going to be a bit lonely," he says.
"It's quite possible I become so decrepit that I can't surf anymore," he said. "But I can still come here and look out the window and surf vicariously."
Selfie dogs are starting to pop up on social media, and they're setting the standard for all animal internet activity to come, but they need a smartphone to share their selfies- while Lucy carries her selfie around on her ear.
Lucy shook her ear like a Polaroid picture one day and the self portrait just sort of appeared...just kidding- she was born with this odd coloration on her left ear that looks like a thumbnail image of her face.
Lucy was part of a litter delivered at the Lollypop Farm Humane Society in Rochester, New York, and when the ultimate selfie dog's story went viral people found her so ear-resistable she was adopted right away.
The hydraulic press utilized by The Hydraulic Press Channel didn't stand a chance against Wolverine's adamantium claws, but after a few repairs it began smashing stuff flat as a pancake again- starting with a cast iron vice.
It's an iron-ic turn of events for the mighty vice, considering it's the one that usually does all the crushing, but the smashing of tough stuff doesn't stop there! Watch what happens when the going gets tough for the "toughest card reader on the planet"...
Mainstream music acts will tour with other acts and guest star on a track here and there, but for some reason they almost never combine their musical super powers to form supergroups, which is a shame.
Sometimes their contracts prevent them from teaming up, but more often than not the artists themselves (and their egos) shut down the supergroup idea before it can take shape.
In 1969 Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis were looking to form a group and record an album together, so they sent a telegram to Paul McCartney inviting him to play bass on the album.
It's unclear if Paul knew about the offer, but when he was asked in the same year whether The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and The Beatles should record an album together he and Mick flat out said "NO!"
The idea was proposed by producer Glyn Johns, who wanted to use the album as his own kooky version of Battle of the Bands:
Johns had the whole thing planned out, too. He would take all the best material from each group, have them compete for best rhythm section, and then have the winners perform that song on the album -- which makes us wonder why The Hunger Games couldn't just have been that?
According to Johns, quite a few members were down with the elaborate project/musical death match, but in the end bigger egos prevailed:
"Keith and George thought it was fantastic. But they would, since they were both huge Dylan fans. Ringo, Charlie, and Bill were amicable to the idea as long as everyone else was interested. John didn't say a flat no, but he wasn't that interested. Paul and Mick both said absolutely not."
Our social media profiles say a lot about us to the online world, and they're often the initial point of contact for people we meet in the virtual world well before we ever meet them in person.
If you're drinking or smoking pot in every picture we assume you're a wastoid, if the pics are taken all over the world people assume you're a traveler, and if you have nothing but selfies we assume you're vain.
So what do we assume if your profile pic shows you casting spells with all six of your arms? We assume you're an amateur Photoshopper, and that you have quite an imagination!
People in America rarely Photoshop their profile pics because we're afraid our network will make fun of us, but in Russia a profile pic isn't finished until it has been thoroughly 'shopped.
Because how is anybody supposed to know you're a real catch unless you make it clear with your profile pic?
Phyllis Diller was one of the most prolific comedians of all time, and she wrote enough jokes during her fifty plus years in showbiz to fill an entire card catalog- 52,569 "gags" to be exact.
Phyllis' method for cataloging her jokes involved literally typing them out on index cards and filing them all away in her "gag file", made up of 48 drawers categorized by subject.
Phyllis donated her gag file to the Smithsonian Institution in 2003 for safe keeping, where it is currently being scanned and transcribed into a digital database by volunteers online:
The volunteers work online from scanned images of the 52,569 cards that have been uploaded to the Smithsonian site. Each of those scans was created by Hanna BredenbeckCorp, a Project Assistant who works with Ferriter at the Smithsonian Transcription Center. She didn't know much about Diller before handling the joke collection that made her famous.
Usually a transcription project of this scale takes three to four months to complete. The Diller files have attracted 630 new volunteers to the project, meaning the gags should be transcribed in about five to six weeks.
I asked Hanna BredenbeckCorp to tell me a joke that stands out from one of the 52,569 cards she scanned.
"When God was handing out chins, I thought He said gins. So I said 'Make mine a double.'"
There are pictures that bring a smell to mind, pics that never fail to make us smile or frown, and then there are these sketchy photos that will make your mind scream "danger! DANGER!" as you wait for the accident to happen.
This cringe reflex kicks in despite our rational minds telling us the people in the photos are probably okay, because the related stories always center around a "near miss" or "miraculous survival".
And yet when we see a photo of a guy with an arrow sticking out of his chest we feel an odd sense of vindication and relief, because we knew something bad was going to happen!
Being able to print out eye pleasing hunks of plastic in our own home is cool, but printing out 3D gadgets with mechanical functions that work straight out of the printer- that seems too cool to be true!
As this platform jack that comes out of the printer fully assembled and functional proves the future of 3D printing is the perfect blend of form and function- and fun!
This SD Card Mountain is a great example of form, function and fun in one, and once people see this clever little thingie on your desk they'll be begging you to print one out for them.
And you can finish making your desk look worthy of your co-worker's jealousy by printing out one of these clever Out Of Office desk signs, which is sure to make them all flip out!
Every guy should own at least one suit in case of dressy event, wedding or funeral, and if you're a one suit kinda guy you'll want to buy a high quality jacket- so you never have to buy another.
Now unless you can afford a custom tailored suit, or you've got a connect in the garment industry, you'll want to know how to spot a quality garment and make sure you're getting a good deal.
According to this smart graphic by Ted Slampyak and The Art Of Manliness you should start by checking the fabric and stitching, then look for a finer lining, lapels that roll a bit and buttons that aren't made of plastic.
These days everyone's a photographer, and the phones in our pockets take great pics we can instantly edit, filter and share with everyone on the planet if we'd like, all of which is now seen as no big deal.
But this photo boom has made another artistic skill seem far more impressive- the ability to create photo realistic illustrations.
Everybody can take a good pic, but very few people on the planet have the drawing skill necessary to make a bunch of ink on the page look like a perfect photograph of the subjects.
Nigerian artist Arinze Stanley has the skills, but he also has the imagination to make the subjects in each drawing look like they're posing for a photo, which somehow manages to make them look even more realistic.
"Sometimes it's almost like I'm not in control of my pencil," he adds. "It's sort of like energy transfer: most times I feel like I transfer my energy into a blank piece of paper through my pencils and it becomes art."
Stanley isn't certain how long each piece takes to complete because he often loses track of time during the creative process. But, he estimates that a work takes anywhere from 200 to 300 hours until it is finished.
There's something odd about people who greet others as "strangers", and whenever someone says "hi stranger" to me I immediately assume they're either joking or hiding bodies in their basement.
The creepy little clay guy in "Hi Stranger" by Kirsten Lepore kicks off the short by greeting us in this odd way, then he reveals himself to be either our biggest fan or our future stalker- or probably both.
Plus his clay buns are out, and you won't be able to resist taking a peek...*shivers*
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was one of those rare in-between films that managed to fill in a blank in a massive cinematic universe and hold its own as a great movie.
But after watching the film many fans wondered how the end of Rogue One would flow into the beginning of A New Hope, because that's the continuity level we've come to expect from Star Wars.
So editor Barre Fong spliced the films together and discovered the transition is pretty darn clean considering it brings together two films released nearly forty years apart.
