1980s Toys by Artist Robert Burden

(Video Link)

Robert Burden is a San Francisco-based artist who composes paintings of toys from the 1980s, including depictions of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The video above is a time-elapsed video of his composition of an 11-foot high monumental painting of Voltron.

Link via Topless Robot

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Rebel Attack in Lego

Flickr user roguebantha_1138 built a huge Lego diorama that tells a story, set in the Star Wars universe!

See lots more pictures in the Flickr set. Link -Thanks, xadrian!

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Beauty Mask Video

[YouTube - Link]

I have no idea who thought this was a good idea for a product and who in the marketing department thought this video would work to sell it. Oddly enough it makes me think of this as a Michael Myers tribute video. WTF?!

via -BoingBoing

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A Roomba Riding Cat

(Video Link)

You may think that this Roomba-riding cat is cute. I’m more concerned about the implications of cats learning how to use human technology. What, do you think that cats will be loyal to us when the revolution comes? As Jonah Goldberg has long warned, cats will turn on us without the slightest hesitation like Kent Brockman before our alien ant overlords.

Via Bits & Pieces

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Guidelines for Cats

Cats have rules for their lives, they just don’t want to tell you about them. James S. Huggins has compiled a list of these guidelines. For example:

Link -via the Presurfer

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Pop Culture Propaganda Posters

Propaganda posters may or may not have served their purpose for the Soviet Union, but they sure have inspired artists in other parts of the world! The form has been co-opted and remixed with pop culture icons for laughs. See a collection of such derivations at Popped Culture. Link -Thanks, Jeremy Barker!

(image credit: BeJay)

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The Naked Gun, as Presented by Grand Theft Auto IV

(Video Link)

Here’s a remake of the opening scene of the classic comedy film The Naked Gun using Grand Theft Auto IV. RT: 1 minute, 16 seconds.

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…It’s a galaxy zoo out there!

For those of you (like me!) who look up into the night sky pondering hoping for the existence of alien civilizations in faraway galaxies here’s something to bring it all a little closer to home.

Galaxy Zoo.org is a volunteer scientific project that enlists the aid of volunteers who are asked to classify images of galaxies that were taken by a robotic telescope as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It’s quite likely that the galaxies captured have not been observed before by any human eyes! In reality the figure is probably closer to 20 other pairs of eyes as all images are seen several separate volunteers for accurate classification of each galaxy.

The reasoning behind use of human volunteers is according to Galaxy Zoo project member Kevin Schawinski largely thanks to: “The human brains (is) actually much better than a computer at these pattern-recognition tasks” (humans: 1; computers: 1000101).

There’s a tutorial showing how to classify galaxies according to shape (elliptical, spiral or irregular) and rotation (clockwise or anti-clockwise).

If you’re lucky you might discover something completely novel like Hanny’s Voorwerp (which looks like a dancing alien in this APOD image) or something more disturbing.

Permalink at Galaxy Zoo.org

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Bullet Time 2.0 by Toshiba

[YouTube - Link]

Using 200 Toshiba Gigashot cameras this advertisement called “Timesculpture” for Toshiba advances the Bullet Time method we all remember from the movie The Matrix. However, this was created not by combining static images compiled together…no sir ree, Bob!!

This was filmed and produced using looped video clips digitally stitched together to work seamlessly to create a really cool looking ad. The ad itself is fun to watch but the real meat of this story comes from the clip that details how they made it. What floored me was the amount of data collected to produce this ad…20,000 gigabytes! And the time it took to process this plethora of data? Four weeks. Four weeks! @_@

And here is the making of the ad “Timesculpture”.

[YouTube - Link]

via - Gizmodo

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Books: Rare, Medium, Well Done

Rare, Medium and Well Done Books is an "awesomely unorganized bookstore" in Lincoln Park, Chicago. If I’m ever in the Windy City, this will definitely be a place to visit.

A fantastic photo by Doug Oldham [photo.net]

Photo: deeeeaaaan [Flickr]

It looks either like a fire death trap or a treasure trove of a bookstore with a great sense of humor …

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All Muppets, all the time!

OK, I should totally be working on my NaNoWriMo book right now… but then my husband managed to distract me with this Muppets site. The videos are fantastic - I’m especially partial to the Secret Elevator Tapes featuring Pepe the King Prawn. But I also really love Animal, Beaker and the Swedish Chef in an elevator.

Warning: Do not click if you have something you should be doing right now!

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Man Plays Carrinet

I have the feeling this is the future of our school music programs. Surely they can’t say they don’t have the money to fund arts and music when it’s all being made from veggies. The best part is, when you’re done you still have a healthy, yummy snack. That can also help the school lunch program as well, just mix the budget for both and everyone wins. Especially this guy, the ultimate veggie band teacher.

-Via BoingBoing

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Girl With a Perl Earring

With apologies to Johannes Vermeer. If you don’t get this, then count yourself lucky because you’re obviously not a nerdy geek That is all. Move along.

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Squirrel Feet Earrings

If you were somehow bothered by the previous post of dancing squirrels than maybe you’ll be one of the sick weirdos that would love these earings made of their feet.

As a related note, you may be interested in these equally disturbing custom squirrel taxidermy projects.

-Link

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Worst Lawyer Ad Ever

Maybe it’s just me, but I think the whole stuffy lawyer image is ok. Stereotypical attorneys may not be people I’d want to hang out with outside of the court room, but they sure know their way around loopholes. That being said, I just don’t want an attourney that looks like he just fell out of a Little John video with his sweet Mercedes and Jamacian belt buckle. Oh well, I guess if you need help getting something expunged from your record, he’s your man.

-Link

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NaNoWriMo Progress

How’s everyone doing? I’m a bit behind - just over 22,000 words when I should be well over halfway at this point. But, I’m still chugging along, so that should count for something. Plus, I count on the weekends to catch up and was rudely interrupted by tailgating this Saturday, so… yeah. Poor excuse, I know.

And if you haven’t been following along, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month - you have the month of November (and only the month of November!) to write 50,000 words and we have quite a few Neatorama readers participating. I need to up my game!! How are you guys staying motivated at this point?

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QWOP

Really, don’t go into this game expecting to win. I’m serious. Link -via Everlasting Blort

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Penguin Escapes Hungry Whales

(Adnstream link)

That’s one lucky penguin! -via Bits and Pieces

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Concept Speaker Designs

See six of those ideas at TFTS. I particularly liked the Jam Jar Speakers shown, designed for use with your computer. Link -Thanks, Andrew!

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Monopoly Properties

If you’re a fan of the original version of the game Monopoly, then you might do quite well with today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss. How many properties featured in the game can you name in five minutes? You’ll do better than I did… I named three and then gave up! Link

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Squirrels Carve Pumpkin

Here’s an idea you might file away for next Halloween! This guy left an unlit but partially-cut pumpkin outside and enticed the neighborhood squirrels to come and carve a Jack-O-Lantern face for him. You’ll have to admit they did a pretty good job! Link (with video of a squirrel at work) -Thanks, dbd!

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Female Drafted for Mens League in Japan

Eri Yoshida is a 16-year-old schoolgirl, but she’s been drafted to play professional baseball in a Japanese mens league! The 5-foot-tall pitcher will be the first female to play alongside men in Japan next spring when a new league is launched.

Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!

(image credit: AFP)

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Crosswalk Art

Pedestrian crosswalks should be well marked, but they don’t have to be boring! See what artists in different cities have done to bring a smile to those who walk the streets. Or drive them. The example shown is from Canadian street artist Peter Gibson. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend

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Puppet

(YouTube link)

A short film by Patrick Smith. The protagonist makes a hand puppet, who apparently doesn’t like his creator. -via I Am Bored

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Saint Death

Take a look at several incarnations of Santa Muerte at socyberty. Link -Thanks, RJ Evans!

(image credit: volante)

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Ancient Greek Jokes

You think my jokes are old! A Greek joke book has been published that dates back to the 4th century AD. Some of the jokes are still around, although they are now told in somewhat different terms. For example, one of the jokes is similar to Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch.

Link -Thanks, Jayne Howley!

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Neatorama Mystery Sale - November 2008

What will you get for $9.95?

Hello, everyone! Neatorama is having its much anticipated Mystery Sale. For just $9.95, you’ll get … well, I won’t tell you: that’s the whole point of the sale - it’s a mystery!

What I can tell you is this: you’ll get something worth at least $9.95. It will be a physical product. It will be new and fun. If you buy more than one, you’ll get different items. You can even get it gift-wrapped (it’ll be a fun thing to do for Christmas) and better yet, it’s the easiest way to get all your Christmas shopping done!

In the past, we’ve done books, shirts, watches, and iPods. The last Mystery Sale has a few very special items. I promise you this Mystery Sale will be better!

As with the last Mystery Sale, you snooze you lose. It’s for a limited time only (the last one lasted less than 24 hours), so get yours today: Link Time’s Up! Didn’t get yours? Remember that the Mystery Sale is never announced beforehand, so visit the blog every day!

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13 Things You Should Know About Botulism

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A Bunch of Scientists Walk Into a Bar …

Miss Cellania has the classic "a whole bunch of scientists walk into a bar …" post. It’s an oldie but goodie, and I couldn’t help but laugh at some of them. For example:

Read the rest here: Link

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Rick Astley, Simpsonized

We’ve blogged about Dean T. Fraser’s blog, Springfield Punx, where he draws characters in the style of The Simpsons ("Simpsonized," I suppose).

Here’s a new one that I just couldn’t pass up: Rick Astley Simpsonized! Link - via Super Punch

Previously on Neatorama: 10 Neat Facts About Rick Astley

All right, if that’s not your thing, how about a poster of the Springfield Punx characters that have graced the blog?

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