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No Leaks in Umbrella House

Posted 5/30/2008 12:51 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

Pop Fi has brought all sorts of homes to your attention. We’ve had houses made of newspaper, “backpack” additions to condos and houses made from recycled trash. Even dog houses that would make some people jealous.
The latest unusual home is a house made of umbrellas. The structure by Japanese designer Kengo Kuma is comprised of […]

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Unusual Stuff

The Penalty For Assault With A Dead(ly) Hedgehog

Posted 5/30/2008 9:10 am by Ron Hogan

We’ve all been hedgehog-throwing mad.  I know I sure have.  It’s important, when you’re at your angriest, to step back, take some deep breaths, and slowly put down the Erinaceinae, because if you’re anything like the New Zealander who threw the last hedgehog, you’ll end up paying a hefty fine.
While $545 is a pretty steep […]

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Unusual Stuff

Intelligent Digital Pot Reveals Pertinent Plant Info

Posted 5/29/2008 10:40 am by Stephanie Sturgis

It doesn’t take long to figure out I don’t have a green thumb.

One quick look at the window sill where my few pitiful potted plants reside shows my sheer lack of intuitive human/plant interaction. Only the heartiest greenery survives my care.
There may be a rescue in sight for my not-so-green house plants.
It’s the Digital Pot. […]

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Images

Wacky Packages Stuck on the Coffee Table

Posted 5/28/2008 11:10 am by Stephanie Sturgis

Who doesn’t love some gross humor.
Come on, admit it. The lowbrow can still be funny.
We were taught this at an early age thanks to the folks at Topps who produced Wacky Packages stickers.
You remember don’t you. A pack of stickers with parodies of actual products available on the local grocer’s shelves reformed into a panoply […]

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Images

Vintage Photos - Pics from the Past

Posted 5/27/2008 11:38 am by Stephanie Sturgis

There’s nothing like looking back at society through the snapshots of the people.
I can spend hours scrolling through vintage photos and wondering how the lives of the people depicted were different from mine or just same as what I go through.
If you enjoyed Tracy’s earlier link to vintage photos here at Pop Fi, you’ll certainly […]

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Images

Gamers Can Buckle Up Old School

Posted 5/22/2008 9:35 am by Stephanie Sturgis

I have to admit I’m anxious to get to play with the new Wii Fit.
The stand-on board from Nintendo looks like a real test of balance and, considering I’m not the most graceful, it will be a challenge.
One thing about the Fit, I don’t imagine the big white rectangle will be turned into a […]

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Unusual Stuff

Robot Mouth Chomps on Apples

Posted 5/20/2008 10:55 am by Stephanie Sturgis

Sometimes I wonder how scientists in lab think of new things to study.
I envision it something like this.

There’s a chemically-enhanced man in a white lab coat standing next to a counter top covered with a bunsen burner with a blue flame shooting out of the top of it and a computer nearby. He mulls. He […]

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Unusual Stuff

Creepy Kids in Ads

Posted 5/19/2008 12:05 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

Nothing wigs me out quicker than a creepy kid.
It’s even worse when an advertising agency thinks that what they consider a darling cherub but I see as an evil devil spawn is fawning over their product in a commercial or ad.
Is it just me or does that kid at the top look like she’s salivating […]

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Unusual Stuff

Happy Birthday Converse

Posted 5/16/2008 12:43 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

Chuck Taylor All-Star tennis shoes are everywhere.
I know they are in my closet. I’ve got two pairs tucked in there. That makes me part of 60 percent of all Americans, according to a survey that says more than half of all US citizens own or have owned a pair of the low tech athletic shoes.
The […]

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Unusual Stuff

The Vrolik Is One Morbid Museum

Posted 5/16/2008 12:17 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

The human body is a crazy gizmo.
When you start thinking about how it works it can be overwhelming. I pop in a couple of slices of pizza for fuel and the thing just keeps on ticking.
Curious doctors, scientists and anatomists have tried to solve the puzzle that is the human body for centuries.
Japanese doctor Yasukazu […]

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Unusual Stuff

Mmmmmm - Meat Water

Posted 5/14/2008 12:43 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

Strolling up to the beverage coolers in the local quick mart now presents too many options.
It’s no longer just a question of with which soda will I quench my raging thirst.
Now, thirsty consumers have to wade through shelf upon shelf of chilled energy drinks, sodas, bottled waters, flavored waters, teas, flavored teas and electrolyte-replenishing beverages.
All […]

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Unusual Stuff

Gruesome Bread Heads

Posted 5/14/2008 12:02 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

The picture above is not part of the promotional advertising for the latest addition to the Saw movie series.

The heads are actually available in a bakery in Thailand.
Thai artist and baker Kittiwat Unarrom brings dough and anatomy together in truly creepy form. Kittiwat’s family owned the bakery and he added his ghoulish artistic touch to […]

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Unusual Stuff

Nuclear Waste as Art

Posted 5/13/2008 2:30 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

Nuclear waste and art are rarely combined in the same sentence.
However, a storage facility for nuclear waste in the Netherlands is bringing a new approach to the problem.
The Habog Facility has been painted a bright orange and is covered with giant equations to capture the attention of passersby. Inside the building, in addition to the […]

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Unusual Stuff

Red Hot Lover Captain Kirk and his Alien Women

Posted 5/13/2008 1:46 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

My dog wakes me up every morning about 5 a.m. to go outside.
The only good thing about this canine habit is that it coincides nicely with TV Land’s morning schedule in which Star Trek (The Original Series) has a prominent place, airing every Monday through Friday.
So while I doze back off for another hour of […]

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Unusual Stuff

Skeeter Eaters

Posted 5/12/2008 9:41 am by Stephanie Sturgis

Once again, it’s Mother Nature to the rescue.
You can’t turn on the news on television or click online to a news site without hearing about the housing foreclosure crisis. All across America, houses are empty and abandoned due to money woes.
Many of those homes in warmer states like California, Florida and Arizona have swimming pools […]

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Unusual Stuff

Floating Shelves Are Decor Magic

Posted 5/12/2008 9:05 am by Stephanie Sturgis

I love a clever design trick that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg or necessitate a trip to one of those giant furniture stores.

Roaming the Intertubes, I ran across a shelf on Neatorama that pulls off a trick worthy of Kris Angel and David Blaine.
It’s a “floating” shelf and you don’t have to be […]

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Images

ManBabies

Posted 5/09/2008 8:10 pm by Trace Sharp

There is a new site on these tubes called ManBabies.
I think the picture is self-explanatory where the heads of fathers and their sons are transferred.
I know. Very odd.

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Unusual Stuff

To Infinity and Beyond on NASA’s Kepler Mission

Posted 5/09/2008 4:31 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

I’ve finally found a way to travel into outer space without having to die and have my ashes hurled out into oblivion.

NASA is affording me (and anyone else inclined) an opportunity to send my name into space as part of the Kepler Mission.
The Kepler mission is a search for Earth-size and smaller planets in the […]

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Videos

Annoying Kids Get Their Payback

Posted 5/08/2008 1:29 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

What’s more annoying than a cutesy kid on a Hummel figurine?
How about annoying kids in real life.
They run around like maniacs while their parents are often oblivious to the distractions and mayhem their “little darlings” are causing whether it’s during a concert or ceremony, at restaurants and stores or just in the neighborhood.
Sometimes these brats […]

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Images

The Devil’s Playground

Posted 5/08/2008 12:56 am by Ron Hogan

The playground is supposed to be a happy place.  Filled with kids running around, having fun, screaming with laughter and delight as they gambol and cavort about like beasts in the field.  Sure you might get the occasional skinned knee, but mostly the playground is a place for kids to be kids and revel in […]

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Videos

Bringing The Noise With Toys

Posted 5/07/2008 1:07 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

I’m still a kid at heart.
I love me some toys. Among the clutter on my desk is a hula dog bobble head, some Simpsons stuff and an old Pee Wee Herman “action figure.”
So imagine my delight when I ran across a woman who combines toys to create “music.”
Yep, Kitty Clark has some creative notions and […]

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Images

Phone Sheep

Posted 5/07/2008 12:22 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

In an age of cell phones, ye olden dial phone with the curly cord is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
So what to do with all those useless coils of cord.
How about creating a flock of sheep that you don’t have to feed, shear or clean up after.
The art was created by Jean Luc […]

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Unusual Stuff

Anti-Pirate Discrimination Laws Still Exist!

Posted 5/07/2008 12:54 am by Ron Hogan

Yarr, matey.  A father of four in England be lookin’ at a trip to the brig thanks to his raising of the black flag of yore in honor his his wee daughter’s 8th birthday party.  David Waterman, a firefighter by trade, raised the Jolly Roger as part of a party theme and since then has […]

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Unusual Stuff

Chunky Monkeys = Obese Chimps on a Diet

Posted 5/06/2008 11:10 am by Stephanie Sturgis

PopFi proves once again that it loves a primate tale. From spear-tossing orangutans to chimps pimping out grooming for a little monkey-bumping sex, PopFi has the scoop.
From a scoop of one kind to maybe two or three or four scoops of another kind.
Some Chunky Monkeys in Japan may have been the inspiration for one of […]

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Images

When Different Species Get Along

Posted 5/06/2008 10:39 am by Trace Sharp

It’s squirrel week at Pop Fi!

Image credit 

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Unusual Stuff

Deja Vu: New Nine Inch Nails Album is F-R-E-E

Posted 5/06/2008 5:12 am by AJ Star

Although this post is being categorized under our “Unusual Stuff” banner, the habit of releasing new music for free has certainly become anything but unusual for Nine Inch Nail’s mastermind and frontman Trent Reznor.
The group released yet another full-length album yesterday for free download off of their official website. The album, titled The Slip, was […]

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Unusual Stuff

Mechanical Animals Or The Adventures of Cyborg J. Squirrel

Posted 5/06/2008 1:15 am by Ron Hogan

No, I’m not talking about the Marilyn Manson album Mechanical Animals, but close to it.
One of the greatest things humans can do is rebuild things they’ve damaged.  From bionic tails for dolphins and artificial coats for featherless penguins, to an artificial beak for a wounded eagle named Beauty, humans have come a long way when […]

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Videos

Kinder, Gentler Grand Theft Auto 4

Posted 5/05/2008 9:32 am by Stephanie Sturgis

Unlike classic video games which people search high and low on the Internet to find, certain video games get a bad rap.

You shoot a few people, including some cops, steal some cars, boats and planes or blow up some stuff and suddenly you’re the scourge of the gaming world.
The Grand Theft Auto game series has […]

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Unusual Stuff

Bionic Dolphin

Posted 5/05/2008 8:48 am by Stephanie Sturgis

I may be showing my age, but I’ll admit I watched the original episodes of the $6 Million Dollar Man when they aired way back when. Steve Austin was pretty cool.

Winter the dolphin may not be a $6 million dollar version of the aquatic mammal, but she is sporting a tail that scientists had to […]

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Unusual Stuff

Mexican Witch Hunt

Posted 5/04/2008 6:30 pm by Stephanie Sturgis

A newspaper in London has revived the flurry of interest surrounding the video of a “witch” flying off a Mexican cliff and soaring over the local terrain around Monterey, Mexico.

Is it a balloon?
Is it a witch?
Is it a UFO?
If’ it’s a witch, could it be Endora or the Wicked Witch of the West or […]

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