Like most nerds, I was shamelessly interested in all things Japanese, from their cartoons to their professional wrestling, in high school. When I went to college, I took my interest one step further and roomed with Japanese exchange students for three years. It was really interesting. They were good guys and taught me a lot […]
Read »Navigation » Unusual Stuff | Videos | Images | Monthly Archives
The Best (Worst) Of Regional Food
Posted 3/31/2009 8:46 am by Ron HoganYou know how some people are always down for a culinary adventure? I’m not. I like my food normal; eating can be an adventure, but let’s not go crazy like they do in some regions of the US. I also don’t like eggs, cheese, or mayo, so to most people I like my food weirdly […]
Read »
Earn A Degree In Social Media From Dr. Facebook
Posted 3/30/2009 1:10 pm by Ron HoganSocial media websites, like Twitter, Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, and other things the average person doesn’t even know about yet, are becoming serious business. MySpace was bought by Fox Interactive Media for $580 million dollars. Facebook’s value is in the $15 billion dollar range, if you believe that Microsoft’s 1.6 percent stake in the company is […]
Read »
Sporting Events For Real Men
Posted 3/27/2009 12:30 pm by Ron HoganWhen it comes to sports, there are wussy sports, like the drum corps, and there are really manly sports. Say, for instance, rugby, which is like football but with more punching, less padding, and almost no stopping. Hurling is also pretty awesome, as it’s lacrosse but without helmets and with axe handles instead of composite […]
Read »
Fossilized Freaks And Strange Ancient Animals
Posted 3/26/2009 10:51 am by Ron HoganI’d love to do a lot of things. Turn invisible, teleport, travel back in time… you know, the usual stuff everyone would want to do when they’re asked what kind of super powers they’d like to have. Given that I read old history text books for fun when I was younger (concentrating on the […]
Read »
Torture In The Time Of The Tsars
Posted 3/25/2009 10:21 am by Ron HoganPeople are getting soft and weak these days. What passes for torture these days is an annoying buzzing noise most people won’t hear. Why, back in my day, the Dark Ages, we had real torture devices, by gum! Check out this gallery of infamous medieval torture implements from Russia. When you got strapped into the […]
Read »
Why Do Chili Peppers Hurt So Good?
Posted 3/24/2009 11:23 am by Ron HoganThe way plants evolve is kind of a big mystery. For example, a big question on the mind of Joshua Tewksbury, a professor of ecology at the University of Washington, is one I’ve kind of wondered about myself: Why are chili peppers hot? What purpose does it serve for a plant to be so spicy, […]
Read »
Pokémon Fall Victim to Pokéhackers
Posted 3/23/2009 12:53 pm by Ron HoganThere have been some odd copycat criminals before, but none quite like this. Taking a page from the Pokémon series of video games and cartoons, a middle aged, bearded man dressed like a member of Pokémon villains Team Rocket attacked the New York launch party for Pokémon Platinum at the Nintendo World Store in Times […]
Read »
Tyler Durden’s High School Fight Club
Posted 3/20/2009 2:02 pm by Ron HoganA high school in Dallas, Texas had an unusual after school program between the years 2003 and 2005. In a chain-link equipment cage, teachers, administrators, and school security staff conspired to pit student against student in bare-fisted combat. Of course, since report of this has slipped out into the public eye, it looks like someone […]
Read »
Boogie Bear Gets Down, Pole Dancing Style
Posted 3/20/2009 6:30 am by Ron HoganDoes it get any better than a pole-dancing bear? No, it doesn’t. If you think otherwise, you’re obviously crazy. This video is too funny/cute not to share! What absolutely makes the video spectacular, more so than the bear being cute, is the fact that whoever put the music to the images picked an absolutely perfect […]
Read »
Charles Manson: Still Alive, Still Crazy-Looking
Posted 3/20/2009 5:30 am by Ron HoganCharles Manson, erstwhile cult leader, musician, and one of the most notorious criminals in American history, just got his picture made. From within the walls of the California State Prison-Concoran, a bearded, balding Manson glares impassively at the camera as he counts down the days until his next parole hearing in 2012. He’s been denied […]
Read »
Layoff The Game: Wrist-Slashing Misery Has Never Been More Fun
Posted 3/19/2009 2:09 pm by Ron HoganThe economy is getting worse, not better. When Hugh Hefner has to cut back on girlfriends, then you know the world is in trouble. Fortunately, it’s not all sob stories and misery. While you sit at home, waiting for unemployment to run out and the bill collector to throw you out of your house onto […]
Read »
The Family Too Fat To Work
Posted 3/18/2009 11:37 am by Ron HoganObesity is a growing problem in the world. Every year, people get fatter. Eventually, if we all become like the Chawner family in Blackburn, England, we’ll be too fat to work. At least, that’s the reason they give for why they draw £22,508 a year in disability benefits and government support. It’s not just husband […]
Read »
The Simpsons, Irish Ink, And St. Patrick’s Day
Posted 3/17/2009 12:03 pm by Ron HoganSt. Patrick’s Day is a pretty special day of celebration in the United States, as pretty much everyone and their mother has some inkling of Irish ancestry in their past (or at least a weakness for green beer). Any excuse to get drunk on green beer and have parades is a pretty good one, in […]
Read »
Fake Products In Real Movies
Posted 3/16/2009 10:24 am by Ron HoganOne of the funniest things about movies might be the fictional products that stock store shelves and fill character pockets. For example, if you’re a smoker and you need a cancer stick to scare off the nicotine fit, you might get a pack of Nails (Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse), an offer of a Morely (Heroes, […]
Read »
The Joker Goes On A Crime Spree; Batman Surprisingly Unhelpful
Posted 3/13/2009 3:00 pm by Ron HoganIt was only a matter of time before it happened, honestly. After Heath Ledger’s incredible performance in The Dark Knight, I started a mental countdown until the first crackpot with a Joker obsession went out and did something crazily stupid. It took longer than I expected, but Army Spc. Christopher Lanum dressing like The Joker, […]
Read »
Build Your Own Superhero
Posted 3/12/2009 7:00 am by Ron HoganWho doesn’t love superheroes? You love them, I love them, and Hollywood loves them. So why not make your own superhero (warning: music)? Just be careful, as every superhero comes with the ability to cause you to waste hours on the site pouring over options, color schemes, and accessories. I know I did! I’ve spent […]
Read »
Eight Sleep Problems And How To Solve Them
Posted 3/12/2009 6:00 am by Ron HoganI don’t sleep enough. I’ve got terrible sleep patterns. In fact, I should probably be sleeping right now, if you want to know the truth. Pretty much everyone has some kind of sleep issue that they’re dealing with. Fortunately, the eight most common sleep problems have fairly common sense solutions. The hard part is actually […]
Read »
Models Without Makeup
Posted 3/11/2009 10:26 am by Ron HoganThe media presents an unrealistic standard of beauty, for both men and women, in the pages of magazines. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but models and actors and actresses don’t really look that good in real life. Unfortunately, photographer Greg Kessler’s photograph series of models before and after makeup, Model morphosis, […]
Read »
William Shakespeare Was One Handsome Devil
Posted 3/10/2009 12:40 pm by Ron HoganPeople are obsessed with William Shakespeare. Did he really write his plays? Why did he make up all those words? What would he tell you about himself if he filled out that 25 Things meme that’s all the rage on Facebook and MySpace? What was he really like? Well, scholars have recently uncovered a lost […]
Read »
The AT-AT House Pet
Posted 3/09/2009 10:00 pm by Ron HoganSometimes you just stumble across a photo set in your travels across the Internet that just tickles you in a way that can’t be described. One of those photo sets, from NickIsConfused on Flickr, is a series of pictures of an unusual family pet: an AT-AT Walker. If you don’t recognize where that cute little […]
Read »
Exploding Toothpicks
Posted 3/06/2009 5:30 am by Ron HoganWho doesn’t love videos of stuff exploding? Who doesn’t love the crazy things you can do with toothpicks? When a friend of mine passed along this video featuring both toothpicks and explosions, I knew it was too good to keep to myself. So how exactly did they turn four toothpicks into four awesome and repeated […]
Read »
The Ghost Of Technology Ads Past
Posted 3/05/2009 4:27 pm by Ron HoganIt’s amusing to take a look back at the past. For example, did you know that if you buy a Sony minidisc player, attractive barefoot women will sit on the shelf in your garage in sassy little black dresses? Or that back in 1983, CompuServe had the word email as a trademark? These are the […]
Read »
English Teachers Love National Grammar Day
Posted 3/04/2009 2:32 pm by Ron HoganIt’s an event that’s sure to warm the hearts of English teachers everywhere. Today, March 4, is National Grammar Day, sponsored by MSN Encarta! It should have been the week before National Punctuation Day, if you ask me. After all, you have to end every grammatically correct sentence with the proper punctuation mark. It’s funny, […]
Read »
The Human-Faced Fish Too Freaky To Be Delicious
Posted 3/03/2009 12:04 pm by Ron HoganYou see that creepy critter above? It’s making a huge stir in Asia because it is one of two carp that people say has humanoid features. It is technically a crossbreed between the carp and the leather carp or tangerine fish (though Wikipedia says it’s a cross between a carp and an ayu sweetfish), […]
Read »
Dr. Seuss’ Fantabulous Birthday!
Posted 3/02/2009 1:20 pm by Ron HoganIt’s a Seusstastic day here at PopFi, and pretty much everywhere else on the Internet, as today is the 105th birthday of the one and only Dr. Seuss. Well, it would have been his 105th birthday had he lived that long. Dr. Seuss was the author of over 600 childrens’ books in his 87 years […]
Read »