Artist Brendan Jamison creates awesome sculptures out of sugar cubes. If you think the picture above is awesome, wait till you see the whole sculpture: Link, Via: Neatorama
Friday, October 31, 2008
Sugar Cube Sculpture
Hero performed by Michael Israel in New York
San Diego 9/13 "Live" Heroes on the Harbor aboard the Midway Aircraft Carrier. Don't miss the end...wonderful surprises all the way through. HERO is an amazing accomplishment, a performance you watch with your heart.
HERO explores commitment to an ideal. It asks the question: What endeavor would you undertake knowing full well that the odds are you will fail? What would you give your all to knowing it's likely you will be severely injured or even die trying? What is the greatest possible reward and in that thought, what is the most valuable and priceless thing on earth?
I watched this video and listened to the story at this "LINK" and it got the emotional side of me. Tears down the cheeks. Be sure to go to and listen to or read the story. Who has been a "HERO" in your life? LINK: Youtube
Thursday, October 30, 2008
100 Vintage Horror Movie Posters
For Halloween, Andrew Lindstrom of Well Medicated Blog has something special for all of us. He’s posting his collection of 100 vintage horror posters. The first 50 is up on his blog: Link, Via: IZ Reloaded, Via: Neatorama
Color Coded
This color-enhanced microscopic image shows a diatom, a tiny, single-celled organism found in oceans, fresh water and soil. Researchers are working to exploit the light-altering properties of diatom shells, for use in commercial products such as paint and cosmetics. LINK
Bottle Temple in Thailand
Wat Pa Maha Kaew Temple is the only temple in the world build out of glass bottles and bottle caps. It all began in 1984 when the Buddhist monks started gathering bottles to decorate their shelters. The lovely bottle art-work they created attracted more and more visitors that began donating bottles, until there were enough to build an entire building.
Translated as “Temple of Million Bottles” Wat Pa Maha Kaew is located in Siasaket province, about 370 miles northeast of Thailand’s capital city, Bangkok. There are approximately 1,5 millionglass bottles incorporated in the temple complex,that includes glass shelters, crematorium and even glass toilets.
The bottles make for a surprisingly easy to maintain building material, they let the light in and they don’t fade. The monks are still collecting glass bottles to build even more structures at Wat Pa Maha Kaew. LINK
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Fatboy Slim » Weapon of Choice
Video Details ( LINK )
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Album
Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars [Clean]
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Label
Astralwerks
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Director
Spike Jonze
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Genre
Electronic/Dance
The Grateful Dead » Touch Of Grey
Video Details ( LINK )
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Album
In the Dark
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Label
Arista Records
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Genre
Rock
Duran Duran » Hungry Like The Wolf
Video Details ( LINK )
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Album
Arena
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Label
Capitol Records
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Director
Russell Mulcahey
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Genre
Alternative
Monday, October 27, 2008
Very Hungry God Skull Sculpture
Playing the Building
Creative Time presents Playing the building, a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. Devices are attached to the building structure — to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and are used to make these things produce sound. The activations are of three types: wind, vibration, striking. The devices do not produce sound themselves, but they cause the building elements to vibrate, resonate and oscillate so that the building itself becomes a very large musical instrument.
Go to LINK to see more detail and photos.
Terrified Corn Cobs
Beautiful Graffiti Artworks
Street culture and graffiti are well-known for being provocative, appealing, bold and uncompromising. Originally used by gangs to mark their territory in some urban area, graffitis have now become a rich medium for unrestricted expression of ideas and statements.
50 Examples of beautiful graffiti artworks. Via: Presurfer
Saturday, October 25, 2008
HOWTO make a Cylon pumpkin
The latest MAKE: Weekend Project video guides you in the creation of an old-school Battlestar Galactica Cylon pumpkin complete with the scanning LED eye.
Cylon Jack O' Lantern. LINK: Boingboing
The Fountain Bridge
Here’s a pretty neat way of turning a ho-hum bridge into an amazing tourist attraction: turn it into a fountain!
The fountains at the Banpo Bridge were installed on September ninth and have since become a major tourist attraction. It has nearly 10 thousand nozzles ( more exactly 9, 380 ) on either side of the bridge that shoots out 190 tons of water every minute. According to the Seoul mayor, Oh Se-Hoon, the fountain bridge would help acknowledge Seoul as an eco-friendly destination amassing more tourists.
Freshome has the story (and video clip): Link, Via: Neatorama
Piglet Squid is Cute
Scientists at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium found a cute deep-water squid that looks like a fat little cartoon piggie:
Piglet Squid, Helicocranchia pfefferi: This funny looking squid is about the size of a small avocado and can be found most commonly in the deep water (greater than 100 m or 320 ft) of virtually all oceans. Its habit of filling up with water and the funny location of its siphone with a wild-looking 'tuft' of eight arms and two tentacles had prompted scientists to name it the piglet squid.
Piglet Squid, Via: Boingboing
Damar the starling talking his head off
You can heah he really likes his name, and he says a whole number of things, some not so nice, but you gotta love him. LINK: Youtube
15 Awesome Architectural Optical Illusions
As architects struggle to balance aesthetic appeal with practical considerations, many are finding the best way to create bold, interesting, even mind-bending features is through the use of optical illusions.
In effect, our own eyes are being used against us - and nobody's complaining about the results! LINK
15 Awesome Architectural Optical Illusions.
KING LINES trailer
King Lines follows Chris Sharma on his search for the planet's greatest climbs. From South American fantasy boulders to uncharted deep water soloing in Greece to the future of sport climbing at Mt. Clark, Sharma and friends find and climb the most spectacular routes in the world. LINK: Youtube
Trailer music by AbelOkugawa.com.
FBI’s Complete File on Martin Luther King, Jr.
For the first time, Martin Luther King’s entire FBI file is now online - all 16,659 pages, posted by The Memory Hole.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE INTERNET ARCHIVE PAGE CONTAINING THE FILE
The FBI’s Freedom of Information Act office elected not to post the entire file to its website; instead, they’ve posted only the first 201 pages here.
For a long time, if you wanted to view the whole thing, you had to pay the FBI FOIA office over $1,600 (10 cents/page) to get a paper copy, which isn’t a very convenient format for a huge file, or you had to go to a library that had it on microform, or you could view it in the reading room at FBI HQ in Washington, DC. Now you can get it online in PDF format. The FBI has divided MLK’s file into 121 sections, and they’ve made an Acrobat file for each section. But as mentioned above, they’ve posted only the first two sections to their site. The Memory Hole has put all 121 PDF files into a dozen zip files and posted them here.
A very helpful guide to the FBI’s MLK file is here. “Part 1″ covers the entire main file on King. (”Part 2″ is a guide to the FBI’s file on King’s adviser, friend, and confidante, New York businessman Stanley Levison; this 11,408-page file is comprised mostly of transcripts of bugged phone conversations between Levison and King. The FBI has posted the complete Levison file here.)
A couple of important notes about King’s file in general. The 16,659 pages don’t encompass all of King’s FBI file - however, this is all that the Bureau has released. As is often the case, they’ve withheld some pages under exemptions allowed by the Freedom of Information Act. Also, a 1977 court order forced the FBI to remove portions of the file and send them to the National Archives, where they are sealed until 2027. You can read all about this in “Part 1″ of the guide mentioned above.
Note that this is the main MLK file (i.e., the one compiled at FBI Headquarters). It contains some documents from FBI field offices, but the separate field office files on King aren’t included in their entireties in his main file. The Memory Hole will post these in the future. LINK
Friday, October 24, 2008
The Retriever: Motorcycle That Can Tow a Car
Ever got your car towed … by a motorcycle? Behold the Retriever, a modified Honda Goldwing 1800 cc motorcycle that can tow most types of passenger cars. The Retriever, made by Swedish company Coming Through, has one distinct benefit: it can squeeze in between cars stuck on the road in a traffic jam caused by a broken-down car ahead.
Link, Via: The Red Ferret Journal, Via: Neatorama
Baby and Mommy Giraffes
Here’s the cutest animal photo you’ll see today: Sarabi the mommy giraffe nuzzling her hours-old newborn baby at the Memphis Zoo! Link
You can now vote for the baby’s name at the zoo’s website. Your choices are Sesi (sister), Zuri (beautiful), or Shani (marvelous) - all are translated from Swahili: Link, Via: Neatorama
Extreme Downhill Skateboard
16th September, 2008: World Downhill Skateboard Championships from Eastbourne, UK. LINK: Youtube
Sculpting the Tree Brain Mugs
Here is a time-lapse peek at a set of tiki mugs taking shape for Steve over at thesneeze.com. The mugs are based on the Tree Brain - and odd fungal growth in Steve's front yard that had attained a very bizarre quasi-celebrity status. Ill give the finished sculptures a few days to firm up a bit so I can finish their bottoms (eew), followed by several weeks of slow drying, a bisque fire in the kiln, glaze application, and back in the kiln for a final glaze fire. LINK, Via: Youtube
Saul Williams: Convict Colony
The music video for Convict Colony by Saul Williams aka Niggy Tardust! Produced by EagleHawk. Directed/Produced by Rob Leitzell & Chris Edley. 7/9/2008. Out on Fader Label. LINK: Youtube
More to add to this later.
Johnny Cash - I Am The Nation
Johnny Cash's America was not red, white, or blue, but black. And that blackness contained multitudes. While society has become increasingly divided. Cash navigated some of the most contentious issue of our time - war, prison, reform, youth discontent, religion, Native American rights - without losing his audience. Americans who can agree on little else have agreed on Johnny Cash. What lessons can be learned from his story?
LINK: Youtube
Blue Collar Comedy Tour - BIG DECK - Starring Drew Carey
The cast of the blue collar comedy tour come together with Drew Carey to make this hillarious piece about big decks. LINK
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
How Fast Are You ? Test Your Reaction Time
How 10 American Towns Got Their Weird Names
Plan to hit the road next summer, but don't know where to go? We don't mean to be rude, but have you considered Hell? Hell, Michigan, that is. (And you thought you had to drive south.) For a different kind of vacation, check out this tour of off-road America, where unusual names are the main attraction.
1. Hell, Michigan
If you've always wanted to see Hell freeze over, visit this place in winter, when the Highland Lake dam often gets icy enough to stop the water flow. In summer, when temperatures are moderate, the town has a "Satan's Holidays" festival and a road race called "Run to Hell." In October is the "Halloween in Hell" Celebration. The town got its name in 1841, when George Reeves, an early settler in this low, swampy place in southeast Michigan, was asked what the thought the town should be named. "I don't care," Reeves said. "You can name it 'Hell' if you want to."
LINK, Photo: David Ball [Wikipedia]
Graham Rawle’s version of The Wizard of Oz
Using modified dolls and other props, Graham Rawle has created a new illustrated version of The Wizard of Oz. You can see an animated “trailer” for the book here. And go here to buy prints. LINK
Previously on Neatorama: Map of The Marvelous Land of Oz.
Zombie Wall Decals
LED Ghosties for Halloween
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has instructions for making simple ghost decorations with cool LED eyes!
You can make these simple LED ghosties (based on LED throwies) from a soda bottle, a couple of LEDs and batteries, string, and a scrap of fabric. Hang them in your trees, your haunted house, or in your porch for Halloween. They look especially excellent because the eyes seem to float in mid-air behind the fabric.
Link, Via: Neatorama
5 Enormous Cracks
There are places on earth where tectonic plates are moving, sometimes too slow for humans to discern, sometimes rather suddenly. deputy dog found five places where the earth has cracked open, with photographic evidence. Shown is a volcanic vent that appeared suddenly in the Afar region of Ethiopia in 2006. Link, Via: Neatorama
7 Most Extreme Cliff Diving Spots On Earth
Cliff divers deal with insane heights, variable water levels, and falls that are not exactly straight down. Take a look at locations where the most adventurous cliff divers risk life and limb for an extreme thrill. Pictured is the popular diving cliff in Wolfgangsee, Austria. Pro Traveller has six more, with videos. Link, Via: Neatorama
Light Blub by Pieke Bergmans
Pieke Bergmans created a series of LED lamps titled "Light Blub," poking fun at the incandescent light bulb:
And what exactly is a light blub? "The answer is simple," says the young Dutch designer. "It is a light bulb that has gone way out of line. Infected by the dreaded Design Virus, these Blubs have taken on all kinds of forms and sizes you wouldn’t expect from such well behaving and reliable little products."
Link | See how the light blubs are made at Pieke’s website. Via: Neatorama
Monday, October 20, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The 5 Oldest Banks In The World
With so much focus on the demise of banks of all sizes, its easy to imagine the worst doomsday scenarios and wonder if your own bank is next. However, some banks have continued operations throughout civil wars, world wars and economic depressions without going under.
These are not the first banks in the world, which trace back to early lending from priests to merchants in 18th century B.C. Babylon and up through the Roman empire, but rather these are five of the oldest surviving banks in the world, and they each tell a story. LINK
The Secret Headquarters For Paranormal Reports
If you love stories about Bigfoot, UFOs, ghost villages, aliens, conspiracy theories, or any other paranormal news, Area51.org is for you. LINK
Some very interesting and intriguing reading and info here.
The Baghdad Battery
In 1936, while excavating ruins of a 2000-year-old village near Baghdad, workers discovered a mysterious small vase. A 6-inch-high pot of bright yellow clay dating back 2000 years contained a cylinder of sheet-copper 5 inches by 1.5 inches.
The edge of the copper cylinder was soldered with a 60-40 lead-tin alloy comparable to today's solder. The bottom of the cylinder was capped with a crimped-in copper disk and sealed with bitumen or asphalt. Another insulating layer of asphalt sealed the top and also held in place an iron rod suspended into the center of the copper cylinder. The rod showed evidence of having been corroded with an acidic agent.
LINK: Presurfer
Grooveshark Lite
Grooveshark Lite is a web based streaming music service. Grooveshark is the easiest way to discover, share, and listen to music online. No registration required, easy to use and free.
LINK
Mark Khaisman Tapeworks
Mark Khaisman uses several layers of brown tape on Plexiglas panels to produce these works of art. Mark Khaisman was born in Kiev, Ukraine and studied art and architecture in Moscow, Russia. He currently lives and works in Philadelphia, USA. LINK
Instant Crickets
Do you love the sound of chirping crickets?
Instant Crickets. Via: Presurfer
I love the sound of crickets. I can fall asleep listening to them. Thanks to ever came up with this.
Upside Down Dogs
There's a place for everything on the Internet, so why not for a site showing pictures of dogs lying on their backs.
Upside Down Dogs. Via: Presurfer
Sun-seeking Plantbot
Chimp Working Out With Dog
Friday, October 17, 2008
U-Ram Choe’s Futuristic Bio-Mechanical Sculptures
Lumina Virgo (2005), made from metal, touch sensor, light bulb, and magnet:
Korean artist U-Ram Choe who specialized in making wonderful, mechanical sculptures that look like futuristic biological organisms. Choe likes to incorporate scientific nomenclature into his artwork.
Check out more of U-Ram Choe’s artwork at his website: Link, Via: Neatorama
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Journey - Don't Stop believing
Funny how I was listening to this song the other night and it ends up being posted as a comment on someones blog. Hope you enjoy it. LINK: Youtube
192 Sketches of Nightcrawler
Saturn V Rocket Launch - Ultra Slow Motion
Birdhouses Modeled After Dictators’ Palaces
In their installation "Super Kingdom," Artists Bruce Gilchrist and Jo Joelson of London Fieldworks created a set of (functional) birdhouses modeled after houses and palaces of dictators.
This one to the left is modeled after Nicolae Ceausescu’s Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania.
Link, Via: Fark, Via: Neatorama
Lobster Encounter
Haunted Castles of Europe
magine staying in a castle built several hundred years ago. If these walls could talk! But some are rumored to do just that …or have ghosts of former residents walking the halls. This post details ten such locations. Pictured is Brissac Castle in France, which was suddenly sold by its owner, Jacques de Breze, after his wife Charlotte and her lover were killed there. Her ghost is said to have remained afterward. Link, Via: Neatorama
The Stories Behind Three More Horror Classics
Back by popular demand, I give you the stories behind some of your favorite horror classics - Part Two! Go to LINK to see the full story.