Get Cynical

Not having the Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen smouldering corpses action figures left quite a void in my childhood.

(via Gizmodo)

Pugs rock!

From Cartoon Brew:

David Gerstein and Cole Johnson found this delightfully primitive 1934 Japanese cartoon about a war in 1936(?). Clearly inspired by Hollywood cartoons of the era, one can read plenty into the fact that the brave Japanese warriors are doing battle with a “mickey mouse” army.

From Phrases.org. Here’s an example of what you’ll find on the site.

As dead as a door-nail

Meaning

Dead – devoid of life (when applied to people, plants or animals). Finished with – unusable (when applied to inanimate objects).

Origin
This is old – at least 14th century. There’s a reference to it in print in 1350:

“For but ich haue bote of mi bale I am ded as dorenail.”

Shakespeare used it in King Henry VI, 1590:

As ‘X’ as ‘Y’ similes refer to some property and then give an example of something well-known as exhibiting that property, e.g. ‘as white as snow’. Why door-nails are cited as a particular example of deadness isn’t clear. Door-nails are the large-headed studs that were used in earlier times for strength and more recently as decoration. The practice was to hammer the nail through and then bend over the protruding end to secure it. This process, similar to riveting, was called clenching. This may be the source of the ‘deadness’, as such a nail would be unusable afterwards.

Intern candidates should enjoy movies about gladiators:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Idaho Senator Larry Craig is currently seeking intern applications for the summer term, which runs from May to August. The application deadline is March 15, however if more time is needed for the application process, please contact Senator Craig’s office for an extension. Craig offers paid internships within the Washington, D.C., office. Preference is given to Idaho applicants attending Idaho schools who are in their junior or senior years of college (including graduating seniors).

‘”Interns have the chance to be an essential part of a working congressional office,” said Craig. “They participate in the legislative process as well as ensure that constituent services run smoothly. For those interested in politics, it is an incredible opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at how our government functions while serving the people of Idaho.”

From Wikipedia:

Clever Hans (in German, der Kluge Hans) was a horse that was claimed to have been able to perform arithmetic and other intellectual tasks.

After formal investigation in 1907, psychologist Oskar Pfungst demonstrated that the horse was not actually performing these mental tasks, but was watching the reaction of his human observers. Pfungst discovered this artifact in the research methodology, wherein the horse was responding directly to involuntary cues in the body language of the human trainer, who had the faculties to solve each problem. The trainer was entirely unaware that he was providing such cues.

In honour of Pfungst’s study, the anomalous artifact has since been referred to as the Clever Hans effect and has continued to be important knowledge in the observer-expectancy effect and later studies in animal cognition.

This is the most ridiculous product I’ve ever seen……. Oh who am I kidding, I must have this!

This article was written while Richard Dawkins was on an earlier trip to Galapagos, and the footage seen here was shot on a later trip.


The audio is Richard Dawkins reading the article, and video footage was then added over it.

(via Atheist Media Blog)

First they removed Garfield’s thought bubbles. Then Lasagna Cat. Now they’re just removing Garfield altogether.

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?
Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness and methamphetamine addiction in a quiet American suburb.

(via Link Bunnies)

From Odditycentral.com:

The geoduck or gooyduck is the largest species of clams on the face of the earth. The clam itself is 15 to 20 cm long, which is pretty big but the really impressive part is its long siphon that often reaches one meter in length. it weighs between 0.5 and 1.5 kilograms, but there have been stories about 7.5 kg heavy gooyducks.

The incredible aspect of the gooeyduck isn’t only limited to its size, but also to its lifespan. It has a life expectancy of 146 years, which makes it one of the longest-living organisms in the animal reign.

As repulsive as they look (personal opinion) geoducks are a delicacy in China and Japa, where they are often eaten raw, sashimi style.

(via A Welsh View)