Oreos, marshmallow and Nutella? Sounds good to me. In fact, who decided S'mores require boring old graham crackers anyway?

Link

(vimeo link)

What does an animator give his wife for their anniversary? Adam Plouff produced a cartoon!

I secretly spent 2 months of early mornings before client projects building this in the hopes of surprising her. I had fun making it and she cried a bunch. win/win.

She's pregnant and hormonal and you gave her a cartoon instead of taking her out to eat? No wonder she cried! Link  -via Geeks Are Sexy

OFF 2 C WIZARD by Jeremy Hawkins

Ding Dong! Follow the Yellow Tweet Road and get this T-shirt by Jeremy Hawkins when you go off 2c the wizard. BRB! Visit Jeremy Hawkins' website and Retro-Z blog, then head on over to his NeatoShop page to buy: Link

Dinosaur Dead Pool	Eyes Covered	Hello Knucklehead	Keep Calm Hail to the King, Baby!

View more designs by Jeremy Hawkins | More Funny T-shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop, earn generous royalties, and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Occasionally, a library patron will try to check out a reference book. "Can't you make an exception for me?" "No," I say with a smile. At the Chained Library of Zutphen, the Netherlands, Sixteenth Century librarians found a way to get the point across. The library was open to everyone. To make sure that the books didn't walk off, the monks chained all of the books to the reading desks.

There are footprints in the bricks on the floor. Perhaps they're from an animal, but since at least the Nineteenth Century, monks attributed them to the Devil.

Link -via TYWKIWDBI

(Photos: Julie Somers)

(YouTube link)

Cats make the best gardening companions. At least they keep the rabbits out of the beans. This is the latest in the Simon's Cat series by Simon Tofield. An accompanying post lists some plants you might grow that are safe and enjoyable for cats. Link

Imagine waking up and stuffing yourself with giant Oreo cookies. That must be what this healthy breakfast by John and Dana of the Minimalist Baker is like. Their vegan recipe uses coconut flakes for the filling and dark chocolate cocoa powder for the pancakes.

Link -via Bon Appétit

Without being called, they come at night.
Without being stolen, they are lost in the day.
What are they?

Continue reading to see the answer.

Show Answer

Th  is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Curiously Compelling Bathroom Reader, a fantastic book by the Bathroom Readers' Institute. The 19th book in this fan-favorite series contain such gems like The Greatest Plane that Never Was, Forgotten Robot Milestones, Ancient Beauty Secrets, and more.

Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you'll love the Bathroom Reader Institute's books - go ahead and check 'em out!

Darth Vader Tritan 25 oz Water Bottle (front and back shown)

Don't let dehydration lead you down the path to the dark side. Use the force of the Darth Vader Tritan 25 oz Water Bottle from the NeatoShop. This reusable water bottle showcases your favorite Star Wars character. The lid features a built-in carrying loop for easy toting. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Water Bottles. 

Link

(Video Link)

Mad Hamster Costumes's Rainbow Dash costume is so large that it requires two people operate. Watch her dance at this year's MCM London Comic Con.

Link

POLL: Of course, I'll have to make a similar costume. Which Neatorama blogger should be the rear end?

• Alex
• Jill
• Miss Cellania
• Obviously you, John

Biologists Dwayne Gwynne and David Rentz were out looking for insects in Australia when they observed Australian jewel beetles on small brown beer bottles called "stubbies." The beetles were trying to mate with the bottles! But they weren't drunk -they were just doing what nature told them to do.  

The answer became obvious when they got a close look at a female Australian jewel beetle. Females, as it happens, are golden brown. They are big — much bigger than the males. But most important, they are covered, as you see here, with dimples, little bumps.

Australian beer bottles at the time (this happened in the 1980s) were also big, also golden brown, and down near the base they also had little bumps, arrayed very much like the bumps on a female jewel beetle.

Clearly, Gwynne and Rentz wrote in their paper, the males were unable to distinguish between beer bottles and lady beetles. They thought — or rather their inner wiring told them — they were mating.

This is what biologists call "an evolutionary trap." It's what happens when birds, turtles, moths, beetles, all kinds of animals, wired to respond to certain cues in nature, bump instead into human inventions and get confused. They try to do the right thing — like having a little baby beetle, and end up spending hours scraping glass.

The post by Robert Krulwich at NPR gives other examples of how man (or man-made objects) interferes with nature in way we didn't foresee -and what happened after the mistakes were discovered. Bonus video of beetle/bottle sex. Link -via Not Exactly Rocket Science

Whether you want to add a little extra bloody gore to your Halloween costume or just want something a little morbid to add to your regular wardrobe, these blood-drip earrings are easy to make and they look quite impressive.

Link

The Cattery Cat Shelter in Corpus Christi, Texas, gets litters of kittens in frequently, and finds homes for them. Then there is Virginia, the cat who works as their foster mother, watching, bathing, cuddling, and keeping the kittens out of trouble until they are adopted. When the kittens leave, there is always another litter to take care of. Virginia might never be adopted herself, because she is disabled.

Perhaps one day Virginia will find her forever home, but according to Person, it will take "a really special household." Virginia is disabled -- one of her rear legs has been amputated, and the other is paralyzed. Lacking control of her bladder and bowels, she also wears a diaper.

At the Cattery, homeless, abused, or abandoned cats live cage-free and are separated by age groups. Virginia cannot handle the occasionally rough play of cats her own age, so she lives with the kittens -- and she has embraced the role of adoptive mother. And until she finds that special home of her own, Person says, there's always room for her at the Cattery, which is a no-kill shelter.

The staff built a therapy cart for Virginia to help her strengthen and learn to use her remaining hind leg. And she has made some progress. Read more about Virginia and the Cattery at Catster. Link -via Fark

Inspired by Lucky Luke, a Belgian comic book series set in the American Old West, James Stoklund's tableware set is ready to serve amusement along with food. Plugging in the coffee pot has a different meaning.

Link -via Lustik

Looking for a perfect drink to celebrate the Forth? Well, nothing says "'Merica" more than red, white and blue with some explosive surprises. In this case, the shot is just Maui Blue Hawaiian Schnapps mixed with half and half, but if you're good at layering, it would be easy to make a totally red white and blue shot and the Pop Rocks sensation is sure to give you a great sensory experience after you imbibe. 

Link Via The Decorated Cookie

Meet Walle, the winner of the the 25th annual World's Ugliest Dog contest, held at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in California. Walle was a last-minute entry, and impressed judges with his traits from various dog breeds.

"This dog looked like he's been Photoshopped with pieces from various dogs and maybe a few other animals," judge Brian Sobel said.

Walle's owner, Tammie Barbee, said that she acquired Walle when he was three months old.

"People come up to me and say that dog is not right," Barbee told Associated Press, "but I love him."

Walle is a beagle/boxer/basset hound mix. Link -via Fark

See also: contest winners from previous years. 

Ex-germinate! Allegedly, this planter is owned by Chris Balcombe, an accomplished collector of Doctor Who memorabilia. I like the idea of using the shells of slain Daleks as decorations.

-via Nerd Approved

Is your cat too happy and unencumbered? Then perhaps he needs the weight of the world (and the rest of the solar system) on his shoulders. This moment in terrible cat shaming brought to you by Etsy seller NotsoKittyShop.

Link

A couple of weeks ago, Anne Belanger of New Westminster, British Columbia, was heartbroken to see her son's second grade class picture. Seven-year-old Miles Ambridge was smiling brightly, sitting in his wheelchair, off to the side of his class. Miles has spinal muscular atrophy, which does not affect his cognitive abilities, but prevents him from walking. The stigma of being different from the other kids was bad enough without being pushed off to the side in a photo that will last forever. Miles' parents asked the photo company to reshoot the picture, and posted the image to the photo company's website, from which it went viral.

Belanger thinks it was Miles’s smile in the photo that struck a chord with so many.

“He’s just so happy,” she said. “And that’s the thing — he’s oblivious to the whole thing but he’s so happy and he wants to fit in.”

Last week, Lifetouch Canada admitted its photographer made a mistake and said it had already retaken the photo.

Lifetouch said it trains its photographers to arrange students differently when working with a child in a wheelchair. In this case, the composition “wasn’t done right,” said territory manager Dean Cochrane.

In the new picture, Miles appears with his group just like any child.

“You can’t pick him out this time,” she said. “For him, to fit in, this is what it should be.”

Miles was never shown the first picture, and is delighted with the second. Link -via Arbroath

Wish On a String Necklace (sold individually)

Do you know someone who could use a little encouragement to reach for the stars, follow their heart, and unlock their dreams? Help them harness the power of positive thinking with the Wish On a String Necklace from the NeatoShop. This sweet necklace is available in 3 beautiful designs:

• Dream
• Success
• True Love

The wearer wears their wish close to their heart every day, and when the pendant drops off the necklace, that means their wish might be ready to come true. It's a wonderful way to remind someone that you love that their dreams are worth wishing for. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Jewlery.

Link

Jason Torchinsky's Photoshopped images are completely covincing. I'd love to serve on Starfleet's Power-glide. You can view more altered scenes from Star Wars, Star Trek, Independence Day and other science fiction franchises at the link.

Link

C. Rob Cosplay built his own Iron Man suit and uses it to make appearances. This photo catches the imagination! Is Pepper Potts getting a gift? His explanation:

We were in the mall for the High Heel Hike for Autism and after that event on the way out we were just having some fun and messing around while I was still suited up...

Aw, Pepper will be disappointed. Link  -via Geeks Are Sexy

We've previously seen artists turn children's drawings of toys and stuffed animals into the real things. Kingston University (UK) students Jack Beveridge and Joshua Lake followed in this theme by asking young children to draw chairs. Then Beveridge and Lake built what the children drew.

Do you see the chair at the top? The designer included a goldfish tank, so Beveridge and Lake did, too.

Link -via Design Boom

(Photos: Creative Review)

It's brilliant! This minimalist birthday card courtesy of redditor shelliexo consists of two identical checklists of all of the employees in an office. Just print it, check off the recipient and your own name, then pass it along.

Link -via Super Punch

We've shown plenty of geek engagement and wedding rings before, but there are still plenty more to enjoy and When Geeks Wed has a great collection of 20 of them -including this delightful Spider-Man ring complete with spider logos on the inside.

Link

There's a hole in your Fifteenth Century manuscript. How are you going to fix it? At some point during the history of this manuscript housed at Uppsala University in Sweden, the solution was to embroider the holes.

Link -via TYWKIWDBI

(Photos: Uppsala University)

This past week has been very busy here at Neatorama. It's a good thing my kids have been gone to camp, or I'd have never been able to keep up with it all. We've had lots of videos, links, and feature articles in case you've been busy working and need to catch up. Have you been to Neatorama's Pinterest boards lately? They've been completely reworked so they are much easier to see and use. (Thanks, Jill!) I'm going to go over just the highlights of the past week here so you'll know the best things to start with for the weekend.

Alex was very busy bringing us feature articles last week, starting with a Fathers Day treat, 5 Great Pieces of Fatherly Advice.

He also wrote Wonders of the Solar System.

And then Alex collected 7 Fantastic Covers of Daft Punk's Get Lucky.

Jill Harness gave us a photographic look at 15 Utterly Adorable Babies Cosplaying.

A Tribute to Moe Howard of the Three Stooges was written by guest author Eddie Deezen.

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader contributed The Natural History of the Unicorn.

An/The/An Index of Confusion came from The Annals of Improbable Research.

Mental_floss magazine told us about The Poison Sommelier.

Hy Conrad presented the Whodunit: Bus Station Bomber. Did you solve the mystery?

In the What It It? game, the mystery object turned out to be a German Tarantella razor blade sharpener. Read more about it at the What Is It? blog. We had a whole slew of really creative guesses! Among the best, ladybugs said it's "an ocular prosthesis gouger for those too squeemish to remove a glass eye with their fingers." That's good for a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! And Gothixhalo guessed it to be "a viewer for old naughty films from the early 20th century. It helps to keep things private for you to view the old films through it." That sounds like a winner, too! Thanks to everyone who played, and watch for the next edition of the game from Neatorama and the What Is It? blog!

This week's Brainteaser from the Bathroom Reader Institute was called Legs. Y'all came up with some great alternate answers!

If you check in with Neatorama's sub-blogs, you got to see Alex's Fathers Day card at NeatoBambino. It looks just like him!

We want to see your pets! If you have a picture of your cat, dog, or other pet, we'd like to feature him or her on the pet sub-blog Lifestyles of the Cute and Cuddly. You can email a photo to us at tips@neatorama.com any time. Check out all our sub-blogs to find things you may be particularly interested in; the buttons for each are at the top of the page.

We also had a really neat response to the post The Most Hilarious Bootleg Superhero Toys Ever. Molly Carroll saw the picture and was inspired to create her own artistic rendition of The Sense of Right Alliance. Thanks, Molly!

The post that gathered the most comments this past week was Wedding Gift Spat Goes Public. Obesity is Now a Disease was in second place, followed by J is for Jail: Sesame Street Muppet with Dad in Jail.

The comment of the week came from Benjamin Eugene NElson. In yesterday's story about the horse who got stuck in a tire, he said, "Poor guy must've been tired afterwards... or maybe before."

The most popular post was Hairy Stockings, followed by A Tribute to Moe Howard of the Three Stooges and Brainteaser: Legs. But all those were dwarfed by the performance of 5 Modern Problems Even Superman Can't Defeat, from last Friday, which just barely missed the cutoff for being "this week."

The posts that drew the most ♥s this week was a tie between Baby Bunnies in the Barracks and Twins with Rubber Bands. Coming in third was the Adventure Time Children's Room. Thanks for the ♥s!

Right now at the NeatoShop, we're running a Doctor Who sale, where you can save 20%, 30%, or 40% off select Doctor Who items. Get them before they are gone!

Thanks for visiting Neatorama this week! We've got some great stuff coming up this coming week, too!