Japan is great, isn’t it? For the Western world, they’re a great source of interesting traditions. For example, on the Oga Peninsula, there’s a New Year’s Eve tradition that combines Japanese fascination with devils and demons with Krampus’s love of scaring the crap out of children. These particular devils, the Namahage, come down from the […]
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Argyle Socks For Your Kitchen Chair
Posted 12/31/2009 10:00 am by Ron HoganMy love of argyle knows no bounds. When I went to my high school reunion, I wasn’t excited so much about seeing old friends or my new suit as I was about being able to wear a pair of discreet argyle socks with my outfit. Seriously, that one little detail made my entire night. It […]
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Epic Mash-Ups: The A Team And Star Wars
Posted 12/31/2009 9:30 am by Ron HoganI’ve talked before about how I love crazy viral video mash-ups, so it goes without saying that I saw the epic combination of The A Team’s theme with scenes from Star Wars, that it HAD to go somewhere on this website. The fact that it’s so incredibly well done and pitch perfect when you compare […]
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From Tree To Lumber
Posted 12/31/2009 9:00 am by Ron HoganWhen I saw this post at Make Online about how lumber is made, I knew it’d be interesting. The video is of a device called the Jackson Lumber Harvester 3 Saw Vertical Edger, and it’s the device that turns whole trees into 4×4 and 2×4 cuts of lumber. It’s mesmerizing to see just how quick […]
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Shredding The Bad News Of 2009
Posted 12/31/2009 8:30 am by Ron HoganIf you have a bad memory from 2009, there’s only one way to get rid of it. Shred it. That’s the idea behind Good Riddance Day, in which people take to the streets of New York City and shred bad memories from the previous year. Divorced? Shred the papers. Your favorite sports team lost? Shred […]
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How Do You Punish A Conjoined Murderer?
Posted 12/31/2009 8:00 am by Ron HoganI have to admit, this is something I’ve wondered about. After all, it’s a famous movie plot. In the movie Basket Case, a guy named Duane Bradley is separated from his conjoined brother Belial. Duane is perfectly normal; Belial is more like a big greasy tumor. However, instead of dying when separated, Belial becomes evil, […]
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Mississippi’s Graceland Too
Posted 12/31/2009 7:30 am by Ron HoganHalfway between where Elvis was born (Tupelo, Mississippi) and where Elvis died (Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee) is Holly Springs, Mississippi. It doesn’t look like much, but it’s home to one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area. It’s open 24 hours a day, and it’s called Graceland Too. It’s also the home of the […]
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Hypnosis Via The Internet
Posted 12/31/2009 7:00 am by Ron HoganChris Hughes is going to make an attempt at a world record. He wants to set a record for the largest amount of people hypnotized at once. However, since he can’t be all over the world at once, he’s going to try to forge a new record: “the largest online hypnosis session via a Webcast.” […]
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Russian Space Agency’s Armageddon Plan
Posted 12/31/2009 6:30 am by Ron HoganAs the asteroid Apophis approaches Earth, NASA isn’t worried. After all, their Near-Earth Orbits Project says the thing won’t come within 18,000 miles of hitting the Earth. It’s close in galactic terms, but absolutely nothing to worry about. Don’t tell that to the Russians. The Russian Space Agency’s head man, Anatoly Perminov, has already started […]
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Once In A Blue Moon
Posted 12/31/2009 6:00 am by Ron HoganIt’s one of the rarest of astronomical phenomenon, and it’s going to take place on New Year’s Eve (at least in places not Australia). It’s a blue moon, and while it’s easy to explain, the phrase’s current connotation is not. Long story short, a blue moon is a second full moon in a calendar month. […]
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Sex-Segregated Women Only Parking Lot
Posted 12/30/2009 10:30 am by Ron HoganWith one announcement, a mall in Shijiazhuang, China, has managed to reaffirm two old stereotypes at once. Not only do they remind everyone that women drivers are traditionally not the best, they also manage to bring back stereotypical jokes about Asians being bad drivers thanks to their announcement of a women’s only parking lot at […]
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911 Is Not A Taxi
Posted 12/30/2009 10:00 am by Ron HoganGregory Oras, a 37-year-old man from Oldsmar, Florida, made quite a nuisance of himself yesterday. While out drinking, he needed a lift between bars, so instead of calling a taxi or phoning a friend or walking, he called 911 to get a ride. Not only did the surly Oras not get a ride to the […]
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Everything’s Pretty In Pink At Kitten’s House
Posted 12/30/2009 9:30 am by Ron HoganWhen I see the color pink, I think of Pepto Bismol and immediately my stomach wants to knot up. The unusually-named Kitten Kay Sera doesn’t feel the same way. In fact, the actress who lives in Los Angeles, California, loves pink. She loves the color so much that it’s the only color she allows in […]
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Baby Naming Trends In 2009
Posted 12/30/2009 9:00 am by Ron HoganI’m always really interested in these baby naming trend lists, because I like to see what not to name my children when I have them. For example, for boys, Jack was the most popular male baby name in Great Britain, for the 15th year in a row. That’s a whole lot of Jacks! The most […]
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The Secret Lives Of Game Show Hosts
Posted 12/30/2009 8:30 am by Ron HoganIf you haven’t seen the movie Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, I wholeheartedly recommend it. It’s based on the autobiography of TV personality Chuck Barris, most famous as the host of The Gong Show before becoming a producer and, if you believe the story, a hit man for the CIA. Sam Rockwell gives a […]
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San Francisco’s Famous Sea Lions Disappear
Posted 12/30/2009 8:00 am by Ron HoganOne of San Francisco’s most famous tourist attractions has suddenly come up missing. No, Alcatraz is still out there on The Rock, but the famous colony of sea lions that first took up residence on Pier 39 of Fisherman’s Wharf some 2o years ago have disappeared almost overnight. The colony went from over 1500 to […]
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Watching Every Criterion Collection DVD Ever Made
Posted 12/30/2009 7:30 am by Ron HoganMatthew Dessem is a man with an unusual dream. Like a lot of people affiliated with the film industry, he’s a movie buff. However, he’s got an unusual, and noble, goal. Matthew wants to watch every DVD in The Criterion Collection. Actually, he’s not just watching them. He’s watching them and then publishing in-depth reviews […]
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Twilight-Mania Comes To Reality TV
Posted 12/30/2009 7:00 am by Ron HoganThere is apparently no limit to what tiny Forks, Washington will do to cash in on its Twilight fame. Not only does the town hold annual Twilight festivals, including birthday parties for Bella and all the other Twilight-themed madness that goes on there, they’re looking to expand their hold on the world stage. Next stop, […]
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Fighting AIDS In Africa: All You Need Is Love
Posted 12/30/2009 6:30 am by Ron HoganTo raise awareness for (Red)’s efforts to fight AIDS in Africa and around the world, on World AIDS Day, Starbucks launched what they call the Starbucks Love Project to raise awareness and get people thinking and talking more about the biggest crisis in Africa this side of starvation. One of the first things they did […]
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2010 NFL Pro Bowl Roster Announced
Posted 12/30/2009 6:00 am by Ron HoganAfter 16 weeks of blood and pain, wins and losses, the 2010 Pro Bowl rosters have been announced, with Peyton Manning taking snaps as the starting quarterback of the AFC and Drew Brees calling signals as the quarterback of the NFC. This season’s Pro Bowl is notable because it will be the first Pro […]
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Tylenol Recall Widened
Posted 12/29/2009 1:53 pm by Ron HoganIf you’ve got a jar of Tylenol Arthritis pain caplets in your dresser, you might want to check and make sure your bottle isn’t covered under the newly expanded Tylenol recall. Apparently, several lots of Tylenol with the red EZ-Open caps were contaminated with a fungicide (2,4,6-tribromophenol) used to treat the wood pallets the product’s […]
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Birthday Card Exchanged For 32 Years
Posted 12/29/2009 9:30 am by Ron HoganShirley Dahlgren and Bonnie Wiles have been friends since high school. Way back in 1977, Dahlgren sent Wiles a birthday card. When it was Shirley’s birthday, Bonnie sent the card back with a new birthday message written on it. Fast forward 32 years, and the two women are still sending the same birthday card they […]
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The Ruins Of Detroit
Posted 12/29/2009 9:00 am by Ron HoganDetroit is one of the saddest cities in America. Simply put, it’s falling apart. The city was massive in the 1950’s and continued to grow until the economic downturn of the 70’s, and it has never recovered. Actually, things are getting worse. Property is basically worthless, entire blocks are abandoned, and most of the city […]
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Bringing A Fembot Home For The Holidays
Posted 12/29/2009 8:30 am by Ron HoganLe Trung has spent his entire life in the quest for the perfect robot. He built his first bot at age four, and since then has poured thousands of dollars into the development of Aiko, the incredibly life-like female robot he brought home for family holidays. That’s right, he brought a robot home to meet […]
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Armless Pilot Takes Wing
Posted 12/29/2009 8:00 am by Ron HoganJessica Cox never let a little thing like being born without arms stop her. While she’s no relation to homeless plane thief Calvin Cox, she also had dreams of taking flight. So, the 25-year-old Tuscon, Arizona girl has become the first armless person to get her pilot license. With sincere apologies to Tom Petty, she’s […]
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Homeless Man Steals (And Crashes) A Plane
Posted 12/29/2009 7:30 am by Ron HoganCalvin Cox was looking to get out of Frederick, Maryland, and he wanted to do so in style. Tell me, is there a better way to get out of town than by hopping on board your own personal airplane and winging away to paradise? No sir. Nothing better than that. Unfortunately, since Calvin is homeless, […]
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Amazon’s Record-Breaking Christmas By The Numbers
Posted 12/29/2009 7:00 am by Ron HoganThe holiday sales numbers are starting to trickle in, and there’s one thing for sure: Amazon.com did incredibly well. In fact, among the many amazing feats this holiday season was that Amazon set a world record in terms of items bought. On December 13, 2009, the company sold a staggering 9.5 million items in a […]
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No Prison Smoking Lowers Crime Rate
Posted 12/29/2009 6:30 am by Ron HoganThe Isle of Man is one of the safest places to live in all of Europe, and that was before the crime rates started to mysteriously plunge. Just what is keeping the Manx on the straight and narrow these days? The new £41.7 million pound prison in Jurby that was just completed last year is […]
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Battlestar Rhapsody
Posted 12/29/2009 6:00 am by Ron HoganThere’s nothing quite like a good mash-up video, is there? And once again, we’ve got the classic Queen tune “Bohemian Rhapsody” as the star, only this time it’s not being sung by Muppets. No, this video features the great Luke Ski parody tune “Battlestar Rhapsody” from his album Target: Audience set to scenes from Battlestar […]
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Horrifying Sports Injuries
Posted 12/28/2009 9:30 am by Ron HoganLast week, I got a chance to see The Blind Side. It’s a really good movie, and Sandra Bullock gives an excellent performance as the movie’s real star, but one o fthe things that bothered me about the film was the very beginning. In it, the fateful footage of Joe Theismann‘s stomach-turning leg break from […]
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