Fauxhawks

Has your hairline started looking "Pretty Vacant"? Has your scalp turned into the "Blank Generation"? Fear not, aging punk rockers! Mohawk toupees to the rescue!

As the ad says:

these hand made mohawks are designed to look perfectly realistic and stay that way all day and all night, using techniques from special FX film make up to bond to your head!

And for those who are actually still living the true punk credo, the manufacturer felt the need to include this caveat:

Each hawk lasts approx. 15 lengthy uses*

* Care Instructions are included with all Venom Hawks
15 Uses is an approximate life expectancy and will depend on how well you treat your Venom Hawk
If you set fire to it or throw up on it - your Venom Hawk will not last long

Glyph Jockey has created a brilliant collection of Punk Baseball Cards.

Technorati tags: mohawk, toupee, fauxhawk, punk, baseball, cards

Pump(kin) It Up

How to make a Cylon Jack-o'-lantern, complete with the menacing side-to-side sweeping LED eye. (via Fanboy)




I get a little grossed out scooping out the slimy, cold innards for the three pumpkins we traditionally use to decorate the fabulous Info Nation Headquarters. Now Multiply the creep factor by roughly 1000 and you have The 3000 Jack-o'-lantern House. That's a looootta pumpkin guts to deal with...



You probably think 3000 is quite a few pumpkins to carve and light, right? It's not. After two unsuccessful attempts, Boston broke the world record in 2006 for the most Jack-o'-lanterns lit in one place. Boston Common was aglow with the light of the record-smashing 30,128 Jack-o'-lanterns; the previous world record was 28,952, set by Keene, N.H., in 2003. Link to a photo gallery of the event.




This 2,020-pound pumpkin pie is one of the many interesting entries at the Pumpkin Records Page.




Got no room or inclination to display a rotting vegetable in your home? Need to work on your mad carving skillz before you move onto the real deal? Or maybe you just can't be trusted with any tool sharper than a mouse... Whatever your reason, maybe you would rather just carve a virtual pumpkin.



Cage Match of the Week:
World's largest(?) pumpkin versus world's unluckiest bus. Neither one wins.

Technorati tags: pumpkins, jackolanterns, Halloween

I have so much to learn...

I am so going to save up for this Gabe & Max's Internet Thing. Then I, too, will own my very own emails address, and live the dreamlife of my dreams using the internet! And their 430-part system is the total system that you need for the 430 parts of how to do it! (via Transbuddha)

Technorati tags: video, comedy

Wild, Weird Wikipedia

I came across what may well be the bestest Wikipedia entry ever. Ever.

Its humble, unassuming title of Wikipedia: Unusual Articles doesn't convey the scope of awesomosity held within. Hundreds of links to strange, unusual and mostly just really, really interesting Wikipedia articles. This is going to be fodder for a couple of years' worth of blog posts, easy...

Browse the whole (long) article if you have the time, but if you'd rather nibble than feast, here are but a few appetizers:

Chubby Bunnies, a fun (if occasionally lethal) game played with marshmallows.

Forest Swastika - Just like the name says.

Manhattanhenge (as well as a separate article on Carhenge, Foamhenge and other Stonehenge replicas and derivatives)

Placeholder names (for things -- like whatchamacallits, doohickeys, and thingamabobs, for people-- like Joe Schmoe or Frick and Frack, and for places -- like Anytown, USA and BFE)

Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116, which a Swedish couple named their child in 1996. They claim the name is pronounced "Albin".

Exploding Head Syndrome - Some people hear a massive explosion that wakes them up after being asleep for an hour or two.

Human Mail (as in mailing a human via the postal system as a means of transportation)

List of Problems Solved by MacGyver, and I heard the list was constructed using only a paper clip, three shirt buttons and a soldering iron.

The Eye of Argon, popularly known as "the worst science fiction story ever written".

As Slow As Possible, a piece of music by John Cage to be performed until 2640.

Maple Syrup Urine Disease - Sure, having pee that smells like Mrs. Butterworth's sounds great, but it's really not all it's cracked up to be.

I'm just scratching the surface here. The list in its entirety is worth a look. Enjoy.

Technorati tags: wikipedia, unusual

So long!

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man." - Jebediah Springfield

HugeURL.com seems to exist for no discernible reason other than to take perfectly good web addresses and turn them into ginormously long URLs. Here, for example, is the HugeURL'ed informationnation.blogspot.com:


This wonderful little baby will work just as well as its terser brother... As the Telephone Information Lady would say when the number has been changed, "Please make a note of it." (via dmiessler.com)


If you were so inclined, you could own one of the longest alphabetical email addresses in the world by signing up over at www.abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijk.com. You could get an email address like yourname@abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijk.com

I wouldn't recommend it, though. Even aside from the complete uselessness of it all, it isn't the most privacy-minded spot on the planet. They ask for a bunch of personal info that they admit they are going to share with anybody's-guess-who...


thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com lists everything from the longest abbreviation (NIIOMTPLABOPARMBETZHELBETRABSBOM
ONIMONKONOTDTEKHSTROMONT -- Meaning: Laboratory for Shuttering, Reinforcement, Concrete and Ferroconcrete Operations for Composite-monolithic and Monolithic Constructions of the Department of Technology of Building Assembly Operations of the Scientific Research Institute of the Organization for Building Mechanization and Technical Aid of the Academy of Building and Architecture of the USSR.) to the longest zucchini (6 feet, 4 inches).

Technorati tags: HugeURL, longest, useless

If you lived here, you'd be upside-down by now

25 Real (freaky) Abodes (via Look at This...)



Pics and a brief video of The Upside Down House, located in Poland in the tiny village of Szymbark. The house is also meant to be a profound statement about the Communist era and the state of the world. The builders would normally take three weeks to construct a house, but this one took 114 days because the workers were so disorientated by the strange angles of the walls. Many tourists who visit complain of mild seasickness and dizziness after just a few minutes of being in the structure.


Another upside-down house in Central Florida.


Technorati tags: strange, architecture, upside down

What does your monitor do in its spare time?

A best-of collection of dozens of screensavers that are incredible, strange, or incredibly strange. I've already found about five I really love and am going to have to choose which one to use.

One belonging in the latter category would doubtless be Uniqlock, which intersperses a digital clock with 5-second clips of Japanese women performing modern dance and/or cat's cradle. Must be seen to be appreciated. There's also an online version w/no install necessary. (via Constant Ravings)



Technorati tags: screensavers, bestof

Wearin' a fez and some old pince-nez

Pez Sweet World displays some very creative (and not always politically correct) Pez dispenser modifications. (via Boing Boing)

Technorati tags: art, Pez

Human LCDs

South Korean boys cheering for their soccer teams. The most amazing thing is that they do this with their CLOTHES (not holding up cards). They have a jacket that is one color on the back, one on the front, and they can open or close to show a third color shirt on the inside. One school has also figured out how to use their pants to make shading. (via Damn Cool Pics)



But wait... you gotta see this. Another (or maybe the same) Korean team, but this time filmed from a much closer vantage point. The amount of preparation must have been grueling. Check it out. I see it and I still don't understand how they get so many colors, unless maybe they have a bunch of layers of clothing that they somehow flip or change somehow? I dunno, but it makes your traditional marching band look like a bunch of lumbering doofuses by comparison.

Technorati tags: choreography, Korea, cheering

A quiet moment of self-reflection

This would freak me out, too.

I'll explain the gag, since the clip is in German. The girl in the restroom is using the mirror to put on her makeup. But the mirror is really just a sheet of plain glass, and her "reflection" is actually her twin sister standing across the glass in a specially-built "mirror-image" room. (via The Presurfer)




Rufus T. Firefly and his doppelganger(s) in the famous "mirror scene" from Duck Soup.

Technorati tags: prank, marx brothers

My eyes! The goggles do nothing!

GQ Magazine is sorry for so, so many things. Please accept their sincere apologies. Click the bottom of the hideous picture in their article to start the slideshow. (via Mr. Sun)

Technorati tags: fashion mistakes, GQ

4 T of Y I

(4 Tests of Your Intelligence)

Okay, of course this doesn't really measure how intelligent one is. More like a test of your lateral (outside-the-box) thinking. But hey, that's what they call it...

You have to work out what the letters mean. (See No. 0 in each test as an example.)
It doesn't matter if you write the answers in uppercase or lowercase, but the answers must be exactly as expected (no additional intervals or dashes and the spelling must be correct).

There is no time limit for this test.

Answers will automatically be verified as you type 'em.

Use Test #1 to warm up, as it's the easiest one. Good luck!



Test #1 (33 questions)



Test #2 (24 questions)



Test #3 (20 questions)



Test #4 (18 questions)

Technorati tags: intelligence test, quiz

Checking out "checking out"

A grim but illuminating article over at New Scientist, "How does it feel to die?" (via Digg)

Technorati tags: death, science

Yarr! Piratin' be powerful bad!

Anti-piracy ad from the British sitcom "The IT Crowd", which I heartily and geekily recommend. Pretty much all the episodes are available at YouTube.




Yeah boyyyy! It's DJ dp (dat standz fo "Disk Protector", yo!) bustin' a move and remindin' you old (1992) skool, "Don't Copy That Floppy!"

Technorati tags: tagname, tagname, tagname, tagname, tagname, tagname

Change directions, tiny dancer

Is the dancer in this optical illusion turning clockwise or counter-clockwise?

At first I refused to believe this even was an optical illusion. I mean, she's obviously turning clockwise! I mean, just look at her fer cryin' out loud!

I tried to make myself see her spinning the other way but I got nothing. Then, suddenly, after looking for something like a full minute, she finally switched direction. Then it became obvious that she was spinning counter-clockwise! (Tip: if you're having trouble getting her to switch directions, try staring at a point a couple of inches below her feet.)

If you mostly see her spinning clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa for counter-clockwise. (via Kottke)




Very nice video of some 3-D optical illusions. That "Bending Tube" illusion in the middle there really freaks me out for some reason.




Cool Face Illusion

Technorati tags: optical illusion

A Pre-'ween Post

Is it too early for one of these posts?




Gallery of homemade Halloween costumes, jack-o-lanterns, scary food and more over at Make.




10 Epic Halloween Costumes, according to Mental_Floss



Found at Flickr: My Li'l Green Army Man Costume

Technorati tags: Halloween, costumes

Werewolves of Hollywood

I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's
His hair was perfect
Warren Zevon - "Werewolves of London"

Hmm... something seems to be happening to our most beloved actors, and Celebrity Fury seems to have caught it on film.

Technorati tags: celebrity, photoshop

Slightly better than the usual bottle caps and roofing nails

Man finds early-16th century sword while out metal-detecting. (via Spluch)

Technorati tags: history, metal detector

Mister Tee

Not all advertising is soulless and vapid. Sometimes it even has teh funny, like in this ad for some sub shop I hadn't heard of called Erbert & Gerbert, and their Human Flipbook, which involved one model, 150 T-shirts, and a whole lotta ironing (see the adjacent "The Making of the Commercial" video). You win this time, advertising. (via In4mador!)



This t-shirt made me laugh. I wear an XL. I'm just sayin'.

Technorati tags: advertising, human, flipbook, tshirt

"Harp" Vader

Also found at the fine Monkeys For Helping is this rescued-from-the-cutting-room-floor Star Wars clip. I guess George Lucas decided to go a different direction instead...

Darth Vader Feels Blue


Technorati tags: Darth, Vader, parody

Adventures In Facial Hair

Click either the pic or the link for the full-on facial hair experience. Come to think of it, that's not a bad band name: The Facial Hair Experience!



The Swedish Muttonball
(pic from this glorious Swedish(?) album cover found over at Monkeys For Helping)




Don't Look Back




List of types of facial hair, including The Hulihee, The Doorknocker and The Lemmy.




Winners of The World Beard & Moustache Championships 2007

Technorati tags: facial hair

The name's Larceny. Grand Larceny.

So many big scores from so many different movies. Who can keep track of them all? Well, maybe you can. See how well you can match the big payoff to its corresponding film. (via Mental Floss)




How much do you know about 007 a/k/a James Bond? Yes, this quiz is almost a year old, but since Miss Moneypenny recently died, I thought it would fit in here.

Technorati tags: heist, quiz, James Bond, 007

In space, no one can hear Wilhelm

The Wilhelm Scream is a stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the movie Distant Drums. Actor-singer Sheb Wooley is considered to be the most likely voice actor for the scream, having appeared on a memo as a voice extra for the movie. It became something of an inside joke among movie sound editors, who would often add it not only into the expected action and horror genres, but movies such as A Star Is Born (1954), Toy Story (1995) and, in what has to be some sort of record, every single Star Wars and Indiana Jones movie to date.

A list of the 136 (and counting) films in which The Wilhelm Scream has been used.


A compilation of just some of the Wilhelm spottings.



A little more in-depth background on the history of the Wilhelm Scream.



Another type of screaming from the Jim Jarmusch classic "Down By Law".

A shout-out scream-out to Steve at The Full Circle for Wilhelm tipoff.

Technorati tags: Wilhelm, Scream