Finally, something that might stop that damn "Hey Kool-Aid!" Guy dead in his tracks

How to Freeze A Beer In Two Seconds

Other ways to win a free beer (or just really annoy your drinking pals) at EasyBarTricks.com

Technorati tags: bar, tricks, magic, beer, freeze

Hey kid! Wanna buy a goat?

Lots and lots of shockingly creative ads, part of a Dark Roasted Blend series.

Technorati tags: advertising, creative

Dropping some Ellis, D.

On June 12, 1970, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter while tripping on LSD.

Ellis had been visiting friends in Los Angeles under the impression he had the day off and was still high when his girlfriend told him he had to pitch a game against the Padres that night. Ellis boarded a shuttle flight to the ballpark and threw a no-hitter despite not being able to feel the ball or clearly see the batter or catcher.

Another interesting Dock Ellis anecdote: In a game on May 1, 1974, in what he claimed was an attempt to rouse his teammates from lethargy, he attempted to hit every batter in the Cincinnati Reds lineup. Ellis hit Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Dan Driessen in the top of the first. The clean-up batter Tony Perez avoided Ellis' attempts, instead drawing a walk, and after two pitches aimed at the head of Johnny Bench, Ellis was removed from the game by manager Danny Murtaugh.

Technorati tags: baseball, Dock Ellis, LSD

The Steak is a Lie

Gallery of cakes that look like steak (or meatloaf, in one case) (thanks to Janet, primary carer and feeder of Waging Haiku for the Grade A prime suggestion!)

Technorati tags: cake, steak

The Knights Who Say "Ni!" called. They want their shrubbery back.

Mona Lisa mown into suburban lawn




That's no moon! You can get this "Dark Side of the Garden" T-shirt over at Threadless (via Wil Wheaton in Exile)




Topiary Joe has more topiary photos and topiary-related links than you can shake a plant-covered stick in the shape of random thing at.

Technorati tags: Mona Lisa, Darth Vader, topiary

It's just a jump to the left!

Click the pic to view the video

What are these humans doing? Dancing. Many humans on Earth exhibit periods of happiness, and one method of displaying happiness is dancing. Happiness and dancing transcend political boundaries and occur in practically every human society.

Above, Matt Harding traveled through many nations on Earth, started dancing, and filmed the result. The video is perhaps a dramatic example that humans from all over planet Earth feel a common bond as part of a single species. Happiness is frequently contagious -- few people are able to watch the above video without smiling.



Technorati tags: happy, dancing

If Fonts Were People

Exciting things are afoot at this year's Font Conference!

Technorati tags: funny, typography, font, video

Whaddaya know?

There's a whole bunch of quizzes over at mental_floss. Give a few of these a spin; just click on the banner to start the quiz.


Name that US state quarter.



Which movies were based on true stories and which are just too good to be true?



Determine which state each plate came from.



Fun for the budget-minded Joe Sixpack! Pick the correct slogan for these El Cheapo brewskis.

Technorati tags: quiz

Lean and Green

Can't decide whether to go green or get in shape? Why should you have to choose when you've got the Mowercycle? (via Neatorama)

Technorati tags: green, mower, cycle

Hail to the guy named after the chief

It's true. If I come across anything having to do with the US presidents, I have to send an email about it to my friend Chris, who is a wellspring of presidential trivia and other assorted historical esoterica.



So when I located the Facial Hair Presidents t-shirts, I had to send him the link. When I discovered the Jonathan Coulton song "The Presidents", he was immediately notified. And now tonight I've found another footnote in American presidential history:

Eight Presidential Namesakes


White Sox pitcher Monty Franklin Pierce, who played from 1934 until 1938.

Technorati tags: presidents, history

A Russian Coverup

I've always been a fan of cover songs, though I am at a bit of a loss to express why, to be honest. I guess I just like to hear someone take something familiar and send it in a new direction to see where it will go.

I've recently discovered a podcast called Coverville, which nicely fulfills my junkie-like need for new and interesting cover songs. I even had a request I submitted put into a recent Coverville podcast (#479, download it here!).

The song was a cover of ZZ Top's "La Grange" performed by the majorly obscure band Crazy Backwards Alphabet on their 1987 self-titled album. For some reason it was sung in Russian. Or perhaps more likely, fake Russian. I don't know for sure. I don't speak Russian. It was titled "Sarayushka".

The album cover art was illustrated by a pre-Simpsons Matt Groening, who at that time was enjoying success drawing odd little bunnies in his hilarious Life In Hell comic strip.





On a related note, Janet a/k/a bhfire recently sent me a link to a kickass video of The Leningrad Cowboys. The Cowboys are a Finnish rock band famous for its humorous songs, ludicrous hairstyles and concerts featuring the Soviet Red Army Choir.

Currently, the band has eleven Cowboys and two Leningrad Ladies. The songs, all somewhat influenced by polka and progressive rock, are performed in English and have themes such as vodka, tractors, rockets, and Genghis Khan, as well as folkloric Russian songs, rock and roll ballads and covers from bands as diverse as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, all presented with lots of humor.

The Tube of You hosts a plethora of their live songs, so get in there and watch a couple, why dontcha? Here are but a few.

The Leningrad Cowboys - Happy Together
The Leningrad Cowboys - Sweet Home Alabama
The Leningrad Cowboys - Gimme All Your Lovin'
The Leningrad Cowboys - Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
The Leningrad Cowboys - Pretty Fly For A White Guy
The Leningrad Cowboys - Smoke On The Water

Technorati tags: covers, Coverville, Leningrad Cowboys, Crazy Backwards Alphabet

Hey, I thought good fences made good neighbors!

For a stop-motion film over 50 years old, Norman McLaren's "Love Your Neighbour!" (1952) still holds up pretty well. It was all pretty amusing, though there is a bit of a shocker starting at the 6:48 mark or so. (via Dark Roasted Blend)

Technorati tags: stop-motion, film, animation

Strike a pose

Coincidence Photography (some of these may be faked/Photoshopped, as it turns out -- still, most of them are pretty amusing)

Technorati tags: coincidence, photography

It's official: Pixar has the coolest employees

Max's girlfriend Courtney couldn't help herself. No matter how many times she watched the trailer for the upcoming Pixar film Wall-E, when it got to the part where the little 'bot said his name, she could be counted on to cry, as if on cue.

Max thought it was so cute, he put a video of it on YouTube. Here's the story of what happened next, as related by Max in this semi-lengthy Metafilter comment. Don't miss the link to the video of Courtney that started the whole saga.

Technorati tags: Wall-E, Pixar

Duck walks into a drug store and says, "Give me some Chapstick and put it on my bill!"

Art goes better with extra ducks




Lemon Jelly - Nice Weather For Ducks




Duck Hunt

Technorati tags: ducks, art, Lemon Jelly, duck hunt

Managing your screen real estate

Cluttered Desktop Folders Become Art

A Good Way To Clean Up Your Desktop

Gallery of Transparent Desktops

The Deathktop (from German Sylvain Mazas on Flickr. He's also got some other really interesting artwork in his photostream that you might like.)

Skater Desktop

The World's Most Cluttered Desktop?

Technorati tags: desktop, deathktop, Flickr, clutter, art