(YouTube link)

Rhythmic gymnast Shin Soo-ji threw out the first pitch at the game between Doosan and Jamsil on Friday. I think she made an impression with the crowd! If you don't believe what you see, wait for the slow-motion replay from a couple of different angles. -via Gorilla Mask

It's 9 feet tall, 22 feet long and built on the chassis of an old airport fire truck. Kirk and Erik Strawn of Jefferson City, Missouri built this magnificent homage to the Volkswagen Beetle of their youth. At night, you can see the car's neon lights flash in sequence with music coming from the speakers.

At the link, you can watch a video about the car.

Link -via Jalopnik

Marilyn Monroe Finger Puppet and Magnet

Could your love nest use a little Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay? Don't leave your kitchen decor uncompleted. Something's got to give. Love happy and add the Marilyn Monroe Finger Puppet and Magnet to your fridge.   

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

Link

Dash-Am by Dann Matthews

What do you get when you mash up the best flier in all of Equestria and the best sports car ever made (ahem, the Firebird Trans Am, of course)? Dann Matthews probably designed it in ten seconds flat.

Visit Dann at his official website and Facebook page, then check out his NeatoShop page for more cool shirt designs: Link

Chestbursters	Piranhasaur	Rebel Rider	Maneki Nekobasu

View more designs by Dann Matthews | 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!

Jason Everman had the honor of being hired and fired from not just one, but two famous bands. After drifting for a while with other bands, he enlisted in the Army:

When he arrived for basic training at Fort Benning, his hair was cut, his nose ring was removed; he was as anonymous as every other recruit. At 26, he wasn’t an old-timer, but he was close to it. Training had been going on for about a month when Cobain committed suicide and Everman’s rock past was discovered, which gave more ammunition to the drill sergeants. There was a lot of “O.K., rock star, give me 50.” Everman insists he didn’t expect anything else.

A fellow soldier named Sean Walker told me that Ranger instructors begin by asking recruits to quit now to save time. “You had to pass a 12-mile road march in three hours or less,” Walker said, “run 5 miles in 40 minutes or less, complete the combat-swimmers test, as well as other evils the cadre decided to throw at you.” Half the recruits quit. But Everman refused to let himself be left behind this time. He completed every last requirement.

Everman became a Ranger and then made it into the elite world of the Special Forces. He saw action in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places that he can't talk about. In a way, he became a rock star again:

In the war, Everman seemed to have found his place. The cloud didn’t go anywhere; it just didn’t matter anymore. As one of his Special Forces colleagues (who is still on active duty and requested that his name not be published) told me: “He would get moody sometimes, but it didn’t interfere with the task at hand. I would rather work with somebody who is quiet than ran their suck constantly.” In Everman’s cabin, I saw medal after medal, including the coveted Combat Infantryman Badge. “Sounds kind of Boy Scouty,” he said. “But it’s actually something cool.” I saw photos of Everman in fatigues on a warship (“an antipiracy operation in Asia”). A shot of Everman with Donald Rumsfeld. Another with Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal. And that’s when it hit me. Jason Everman had finally become a rock star.

“The way I look at it, life is meaningless,” Everman said the last time I saw him. “The meaningfulness is what you impart to it.” The words sounded an awful lot like those of a philosophy undergrad, which is the latest iteration of Jason Everman’s life. He was talking about Jack Kerouac; he had to reread “On the Road” for one of his classes. We were standing in front of Butler Library on the Columbia University campus in New York. Everman looked rested and content, a backpack over his shoulder. After he left the military in 2006, he used the G.I. Bill to apply to two places: Seattle University and Columbia University. He says he threw Columbia in almost as a joke. General McChrystal wrote a letter of recommendation. To Everman’s shock, he was accepted. “It’s almost like a dare that went too far — and it keeps going.” At 45, he just received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy.

Link -via Scott Beale

P.S. If you liked this story, you might also enjoy the story of Dan Spitz, the lead guitarist for Anthrax who quit music and became a master watchmaker.

(Photo: Ian Allen/New York Times)

Like many of us, Diego Stocco (previously on Neatorama) makes himself a cup of coffee every morning. But this time, the musician and self-professed coffee lover decided to do it a bit differently. Here's the best coffee you'll ever hear (Diego even made a custom-built water-proof microphone to capture some of the sounds).

Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] - Thanks Diego!

If you didn't get your fill of pyrotechics last night (it rained all night here), Wired has stories on 11 famous explosions in history for you. Some are tongue-in-cheek, but others cover events like the boom that extinguished the dinosaurs and the time the U.S. government threw 20,000 pounds of metallic sodium into a lake for safety purposes. Link -via Digg

You should be sorry for buying that flying potion! I would have sold you one for $25 and it would have come with a lifetime warranty.

Link -via 22 Words

Forget hypnosis or the nicotine patch! A 42-year old Turkish man named Ibrahim Yücel has devised a unique way to stop himself from smoking: wearing a helmet-like wire cage on his head.

İbrahim Yücel, who is trying to kick a 26-year habit of smoking two packets of cigarettes per day, gives the keys of his head cage to his wife and daughter when he leaves home every day. In this way, he is unable to open the cage to smoke during the day, even if he craves a smoke.

He says he was inspired to create the helmet-like head cage by observing motorcycle helmets, after trying without success to quit smoking several times in the past.

From Hurriyet Daily News: Link - via Arbroath

(YouTube link)

The short answer: yes. But as Tommy Edison, the Blind Film Critic, explains, there are a few problems. First off, a blind person sees everything in 3D by touch. Second, he has never touched a giraffe. And third, once the pen has been lifted, it's hard to know exactly where it has already been. As far as the finished product goes: I've seen worse. -via Viral Viral Videos

Previously: More from Tommy Edison.

I've never had all three flavors together--or even heard of their combination--but I can see how they would work perfectly together. Winnie put a lot of work into this treat, but it will be worth it for anyone who gets to sit at her table.

Link (Translation) -via Tasteologie

And on the ninth day, God looked down on His wide-eyed children and said 'They need a companion.' ... So God made a dog.

Here's the sweetest clip about man's best friend you'll see today: Link [YouTube]

Do you ::heart:: Batman? Then say it in style with this adorable acrylic Batman necklace by Etsy seller Figure8Knits. Not a big Batman fant? Don't worry, the shop also carries Superman, Night Wing and other designs and they'll even make you a custom design if you so please.

Link

Evil Queen Cookie Jar

Magic mirror, on the wall who has the fairest Cookie Jars of them all?

Famed is the beauty of the Evil Queen Cookie Jar from the NeatoShop. Over the dusty hills , nestled in a lonesome valley, in the NeatoShop store, there dwells the Evil Queen Cookie Jar, fairest cookie jar of them all.   

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Snow White items and fun Cookie Jars. 

Link

(YouTube link)

This is not a new trick; you may have even played this parlor game yourself. But now we can watch how weird it looks in slow motion! Besides that, we get an expert telling us about real-life human reaction lag. -via Laughing Squid

Redditor Gentronification writes, "My buddy's answer to his wife saying they needed a guard dog..." Excellent choice! But like all things in life, this could be improved with a bayonet.

Link

Star Ball, Ball of Whacks (Multicolor and Red) by Roger Von Oech

Here's a neat way to exercise your brain: the Ball of Whacks and the Star Ball by Roger Von Oech. Assemble these magnetic toys into hundreds of shapes to spur your creativity.

Now on sale at the NeatoShop! Save 20% while supplies last: Link | More Sale items

Civil War soldiers endured a lot of horrors: fighting fellow Americans, long waits for medical care, primitive living conditions, and the food. The food was awful, being limited to what a soldier could carry, and rations relied heavily on dry, insect-laden hardtack.

The boys in Union blue also got dried navy beans and, occasionally, a "treat" of sorts: dehydrated potatoes, fruit and other items the soldiers jokingly called "desecrated" vegetables (perhaps because their flavor violated the laws of nature?). At least the North had coffee — though it was a brew "you probably wouldn't recognize in New York," as 16-year-old Union soldier Charles Nott wrote home. "Boiled in an open kettle, and about the color of a brownstone front, it was nevertheless ... the only warm thing we had."

Confederate soldiers weren't so lucky: Union blockades kept coffee, flour and other goods from reaching the South. Those jonesing for a cup of joe had to make do with substitutes brewed from peanuts, chicory, rye, peas, dried apples — pretty much anything they could get their hands on.

In fact, the lengths Confederate soldiers had to go for food contributed to their defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg. Read more about Civil War rations at NPR. Link -via Holy Kaw!

(Video Link)

Like most great breakdancers, this pup was totally self taught. In fact, his owner claims to be embarassed by his dog's sweet dance moves. If this were my dog, we'd totally be on America's Got Talent by now as the first breakdancing dog and human dance team -though that would require me to actually learn to dance, which is a pretty tall order.

Via Cute Overload

Once again, Shedblog has announced the winner of the Shed of the Year contest. This year's winner belongs to Alex Holland from Machynlleth in mid Wales. It's a shed with a boat for a roof!

The unique and beautifully crafted shed is no ordinary design. It has a recycled upturned boat for a roof and a 20w solar panel to power LED lights. Located at an altitude of 750ft above sea level in the Cambrian Mountain range, mid Wales, the rustically charming shack is made entirely from recycled materials and contains a wood burner, 12v sound system and gas cooker – as well as a refrigerator to store chilled drinks.

Alex Holland comments: “I am absolutely delighted to have won the 2013 Shed of the Year competition sponsored by Cuprinol. The standard and creativity shown by the other entrants has been incredible so I am genuinely surprised to have reached the top spot! With the £1,000 prize from the sponsors Cuprinol I intend to buy a second hand 400w 12v wind turbine to augment the solar panel to give me enough electricity to make ice in the fridge for gin and tonics, and to ensure the cider and beers are always chilled. I’ll then be able to have a proper party to celebrate with those who have supported me in getting so far.”  

See more pictures of the shed at Shedblog. Link  -via b3ta


Previously: The 2012 and the 2011 Shedsof the Year.

There's no better way to beat the summer heat than to go tubing down a lazy river. But it's not as pleasant if you have to constantly keep a beer and a baby in your hands. That's where Instructables member flyingguppy's rig comes in. This device made out of a bicycle wheel, a mouse pad, a brake pad and pool noodles keeps all of your essential gear and/or loved ones safe.

Link

Dogs are employed as sniffers for all sorts of jobs. One specialty is a dog trained to detect disease in honeybees, particularly a nasty-sounding ailment called American foulbrood. Australian beekeeper Josh Kennett trained his Labrador Bazz to detect the disease, but he ran into a problem -bees tend to chase dogs off.

The beekeeper, from Tintinara in South Australia's south-east, says that while there are dogs doing similar work in the United States, the cold temperatures there negate the need for protection.

"Their winters are far colder than ours, with snow over the top of beehives. We don't have that situation here in South Australia.

"So I've tried to develop a suit the dog can wear and hopefully avoid being stung."

Mr Kennett says after a long process of trial and error, he's finally got a working prototype.  

The next step is to get Bazz used to working in the suit. Link  -via Arbroath

(Image credit: Josh Kennett)

That's right, pina colada cheesecake smoothies -with real coconut milk, pineapple juice and cream cheese. So if it's a smoothie, that means it's healthy...which means I can have about 20 of them right?

John, fire up the office blender, we're about to go on a smoothie bender.

Link

Susan Morgan with Lord Greystone, a miniature llama, at her farm in Hastings, Minn.
Photo: Caroline Yang/The New York Times | More at NY Times gallery

Forget dogs! Here comes the new hip pet: llama.

As Jennifer A. Kingson wrote in this entertaining article over at The New York Times, llamas are like the "potato chips" of pets. You can't have just one:

People who keep llamas as pets will readily offer you any number of reasons: llamas are quiet, they’re gentle and affectionate, they don’t take a lot of work to maintain and, for outdoor animals, they don’t smell bad.

But it’s more than that. Look at a llama and it’ll gaze back sympathetically with those huge, beguiling eyes, ears perked up, looking for all the world like it understands you and really cares about your problems.

Most people start with two or three, since llamas are sociable and don’t like to live alone. But as Katrina Capasso, a llama owner in Ballston Spa, N.Y., discovered, “They’re like potato chips.” It’s hard to stop at just a few. Ms. Capasso, 49, received her first llama as a wedding gift from her husband, Gary, in 1990. Now she has 55.

Oh, and they hum. Yes, they hum:

Llamas are generally quiet, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make any noise. When a male is interested in a female, or mating, he makes a noise that sounds a bit like gargling. (Llama people call this an orgle.) Female llamas make clicking sounds. And all llamas hum; in particular, mothers hum to their babies, which hum back.

It’s part of the bonding process, said Susan Morgan, 54, a home-care nurse in Hastings, Minn., who breeds miniature llamas with her husband, George, 56, an engineer. “They recognize each other by the hum,” she said. Two months after one of her females gave birth, Ms. Morgan said, they were still humming at each other.

Her husband said he gets a lot of questions about it. “People come up to me and ask, ‘Why are the llamas humming?’ ” he said. “And I’ll say, ‘Because they don’t know the words.’ ”

Read the rest over at the New York Times: Link

Here's a YouTube clip of a llama humming:

Darth Vader Ice Tray

Defeat warm weather and lord over your drinks with the Darth Vader Ice Tray from the NeatoShop. These ice cubes are a wonderful way to deal a crushing blow to those who would dare to serve you warm drinks.

The Darth Vader Ice Tray makes 6 Darth Vader head shaped ice cubes. The force is strong with this ice tray. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Ice Trays and fantastic Star Wars items. 

Link

Heather Poole has worked for a major carrier for more than 15 years and is the author of Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy passengers at 35,000 Feet. We begged Poole to reveal 10 workplace secrets. (In return, we promised to buy her something nice from Skymall!)

1. IF THE PLANE DOOR IS OPEN, WE’RE NOT GETTING PAID.

You know all that preflight time where we’re cramming bags into overhead bins? None of that shows up in our paychecks. Flight attendants get paid for “flight hours only.” Translation: The clock doesn’t start until the craft pushes away from the gate. Flight delays, cancellations, and layovers affect us just as much as they do passengers—maybe even more.

Airlines aren’t completely heartless, though. From the time we sign in at the airport until the plane slides back into the gate at our home base, we get an expense allowance of $1.50 an hour. It’s not much, but it helps pay the rent.

2. LANDING THIS GIG IS TOUGH.

Competition is fierce: When Delta announced 1,000 openings in 2010, it received over 100,000 applications. Even Harvard’s acceptance rate isn’t that low! All that competition means that most applicants who score interviews have college degrees—I know doctors and lawyers who’ve made the career switch. But you don’t need a law degree to get your foot in the jetway door. Being able to speak a second language greatly improves your chances. So does having customer service experience (especially in fine dining) or having worked for another airline, a sign that you can handle the lifestyle.

The 4 percent who do get a callback interview really need to weigh the pros and cons of the job. As we like to say, flight attendants must be willing to cut their hair and go anywhere. And if you can’t survive on $18,000 a year, most new hires’ salary, don’t even think about applying.

Jayne demonstrates how steak goes from medium to well-done in an airplane kitchenette -a quick hot water bath!

3. WE CAN BE TOO TALL OR TOO SHORT TO FLY.

During Pan Am’s heyday in the 1960s, there were strict requirements for stewardesses: They had to be at least 5-foot-2, weigh no more than 130 pounds, and retire by age 32. They couldn’t be married or have children, either. As a result, most women averaged just 18 months on the job. In the 1970s, the organization Stewardesses for Women’s Rights forced airlines to change their ways. The mandatory retirement age was the first thing to go. By the 1980s, the marriage restriction was gone as well.

These days, as long as flight attendants can do the job and pass a yearly training program, we can keep flying. As for weight restrictions, most of those disappeared in the 1990s. Today, the rules are about safety: Flight attendants who can’t sit in the jump seat without an extended seat belt or can’t fit through the emergency exit window cannot fly. The same goes for height requirements: We have to be tall enough to grab equipment from the overhead bins, but not so tall that we’re hitting our heads on the ceiling. Today, that typically means between 5-foot-3 and 6-foot-1, depending on the aircraft.

4. WE CAN BE FIRED FOR BIZARRE REASONS.

Newly hired flight attendants are placed on strict probation for their first six months. I know one new hire who lost her job for wearing her uniform sweater tied around her waist. Another newbie got canned for pretending to be a full-fledged attendant so she could fly home for free. (Travel benefits don’t kick in until we’re off probation.) But the most surprising violation is flying while ill: If we call in sick, we aren’t allowed to fly, even as a passenger on another airline. It’s grounds for immediate dismissal.

5. DIET COKE IS OUR NEMESIS!

Of all the drinks we serve, Diet Coke takes the most time to pour—the fizz takes forever to settle at 35,000 feet. In the time it takes me to pour a single cup of Diet Coke, I can serve three passengers a different beverage. So even though giving cans to first-class passengers is a big no-no, you’ll occasionally spy 12 ounces of silver trimmed in red sitting up there.

6. IF YOU TRY TO SNEAK A DEAD BODY ONTO A PLANE, WE WILL NOTICE.

You may have heard the story of a Miami passenger who tried to board a flight with his dead mother inside a garment bag. Why would someone do such a thing? Because it’s expensive to transport human bodies! Prices vary by destination, but delivering a body on a flight can cost up to $5,000. Commercial carriers transport bodies across the country every day, and because the funeral directors who arrange these flights are offered air miles for their loyalty, they’re not always concerned about finding the lowest fare.

Thankfully, I’ve never had someone sneak a deceased passenger on board, but my roommate did. She knew the man was dead the moment she saw him looking gray and slumped over in a wheelchair, even though his wife and daughter assured her he was just battling the flu. Midway through the flight, the plane had to make an unscheduled landing when it became apparent that no amount of Nyquil was going to revive him. No one officially dies in-flight unless there’s a doctor on board to make the pronouncement. On these very rare occasions, the crew will do everything possible to manage the situation with sensitivity and respect. Unfortunately, most flights are full, so it’s not always possible to move an “incapacitated” passenger to an empty row of seats. Singapore Airlines is the most prepared. Its planes feature a “corpse cupboard,” a compartment for storing a dead body if the situation arises.

7. WE’LL ALSO NOTICE IF YOU TRY TO JOIN THE MILE HIGH CLUB.

It’s usually the long line of people waiting to use the bathroom that gives you away, and nine times out of 10, it’s a passenger who asks the flight attendants to intervene. Strictly speaking, it’s not against the law to join the Mile High Club. But it is against the law to disobey crew member commands. If we ask you to stop doing whatever it is you’re doing, by all means, stop! Otherwise, you’re going to have a very awkward conversation when you meet your cell mate.

8. WE’RE THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

When I started flying, I never dreamed I’d be working with the police, but it’s become an important part of the job. This new role started with Sandra Fiorini, an American Airlines flight attendant who testified to Congress about an 18-year-old male passenger carrying a newborn with its umbilical cord still attached. No mother in sight, just one bottle of milk and two diapers stuck in his pocket for the six-hour flight. When Fiorini reported her suspicions to the authorities, she got no response.

9. SENIORITY MEANS SHORTER SKIRTS.

Our tenure on the job doesn’t just determine which routes we fly and which days we get to take off; it also affects the hierarchy in our crashpad, an apartment shared by as many as 20 flight attendants. Seniority is the difference between top or lower bunk, what floor your bed is on, and just how far away your room is from noisy areas such as doors or stairwells. Seniority even determines the length of our skirts—we can’t hem them above a certain length until we’re off probation. Afterward, it’s OK to shorten the hem and show a little leg. Some of the friskier pilots take advantage of the long hems; they know that new hires tend to be more flattered by their advances than senior flight attendants. (One senior flight attendant I know intentionally left her skirt long just to keep these guys interested!)

10. YOU’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED EXTREME TURBULENCE.

More than 2 million people fly in the United States each day, and yet since 1980, only three people have died as a direct result of turbulence. Of those fatalities, two passengers weren’t wearing their safety belts. During that same time period, the Federal Aviation Administration recorded just over 300 serious injuries from turbulence, and more than two-thirds of the victims were flight attendants. What do these numbers mean? As long as your seat belt is on, you’re more likely to be injured by falling luggage than by choppy air.

Interestingly, on some airlines, a flight attendant’s injuries in flight can’t be officially classified as an on-duty injury unless it happens during what’s known as “extreme turbulence”—where the captain loses control of the plane or the craft sustains structural damage. In both of those cases, the aircraft must be grounded and inspected. Because no one wants to ground a plane, captains are very hesitant to hand out the “extreme turbulence” label. A friend of mine who works closely with airline management said he’s never seen a pilot label rough air as “extreme turbulence.” So the next time you’re nervous about some mid-flight bumps, just take a deep breath and remind yourself, “This isn’t extreme!”

Photographs by Michael Clinard.

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The above article by Heather Poole is reprinted with permission from the May-June 2012 issue of mental_floss magazine. Get a subscription to mental_floss and never miss an issue!

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