Modern-Day Robin Hood: How One Contractor Is Taking Industrial Waste From Rich Companies And Dumping It In Poor Communities https://t.co/5oeehBMKkL pic.twitter.com/LTOONlu3V7
— ClickHole (@ClickHole) April 11, 2019
to set a mood • • •
Operation Schlägtihnenaufdenkopf, commenced and concluded by Germany in June 1916, was the only known military exercise which assumed the presence of zombie combatants.
— Fake Atlas Obscura (@notatlasobscura) December 6, 2018
Before the Easy-Bake Oven, Toy Stoves Were Beautiful and Deadly
They burned real fuel and caused real damage.
This 1920 Eagle toy stove by Hubley Manufacturing Company features a working damper and came with a waffle iron.
IN LITTLE MEN, THE SEQUEL to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, the once-tomboyish Jo gives a miniature kitchen to her niece Daisy. The centerpiece was a real iron stove capable of cooking “for a large family of very hungry dolls.” But the best of it, writes Alcott, “was that a real fire burned in it, real steam came out of the nose of the little tea-kettle, and the lid of the little boiler actually danced a jig, the water inside bubbled so hard.”
When I was ten, I read that chapter over and over. Fiercely envious of Daisy, I begged my parents for a kitchen like hers. Of course, they said no, and I had to content myself with an Easy-Bake Oven. But the idea of giving a 10-year-old their own wood-burning stove is not as fantastic as it may seem today. In 1871, when Little Men was published, such toy stoves actually existed. At the time, says Michelle Parnett-Dwyer, a curator at the Strong National Museum of Play, “a lot of little girls were being pushed into domestic play.” For young girls of relative means, a toy stove could accustom them to future responsibilities. Yet too often, such toys proved to be phenomenally dangerous.
A toy stove circa 1880.
In the 19th century, wood and coal cookstoves, as opposed to open-hearth cooking, spread across the United States, writes historian Priscilla J. Brewer. Toy stoves soon followed, many of them exact replicas of full-sized stoves. Some stove companies constructed them by simply minimizing the proportions. This resulted in some of the positively baroque miniature stoves housed in the Strong’s massive collection of children’s toys and games in Rochester, New York. Many were cast with elegant designs, just like their larger counterparts. Later, says Parnett-Dwyer, both large stoves and toy versions came in gleaming, expensive nickel-plating.
Many families who could afford an elegant toy stove likely hired a cook for their real kitchen. But cooking was considered a valuable skill for even adult women of means, who could then teach hired help to prepare household dishes. In Little Men, Jo pretends that Daisy is her new cook and playfully instructs her on how to do the shopping and prepare meals. …
For years, anthropologists assumed that the stone “birdhouses” of Nefertiti Island were temples; recent research suggests they depict an advanced race of beings with one eye and a long, jutting facial appendage.
— Fake Atlas Obscura (@notatlasobscura) December 7, 2018
‘Flight shame’ has Swedes rethinking air travel
It turns out Swedes have a word for guilt over the carbon footprint of air travel.
Saddled with long dark winters at home, Swedes have for decades been frequent flyers seeking out sunnier climes, but a growing number are changing their ways because of air travel’s impact on the climate.
“Flygskam”, or flight shame, has become a buzz word referring to feeling guilt over the environmental effects of flying, contributing to a trend that has more and more Swedes, mainly young, opting to travel by train to ease their conscience.
Spearheading the movement for trains-over-planes is Sweden’s own Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate school striker who refuses to fly, travelling by rail to the World Economic Forum in Davos and the climate summit in Katowice, Poland.
A growing number of public figures have vowed to #stayontheground, including Swedish television skiing commentator Bjorn Ferry who said last year he would only travel to competitions by train.
And 250 people working in the film industry signed a recent article in the country’s biggest daily Dagens Nyheter calling for Swedish film producers to limit shoots abroad.
An anonymous Swedish Instagram account created in December has been shaming social media profiles and influencers for promoting trips to far-flung destinations, racking up more than 60,000 followers. …
Horror on the Hudson: New York’s $25bn architectural fiasco
It is a billionaires’ playground where haircuts cost $800 and high-rise duplexes go for $32m. So why do the angular towers of Hudson Yards look so cheap?
‘The hot mess’ … the Hudson Yards high-rises with the Shed and Vessel tucked in below and the High Line snaking round.
“One thing that’s always been true in New York,” says Dan Doctoroff, “is that if you build it, they will come.” He is referring to Hudson Yards, the $25bn, 28-acre, mega-project that he had a critical hand in originating while he was deputy mayor of the city under Michael Bloomberg in the early 2000s. He can now look down on his co-creation every day from his new office in one of the development’s towers and see hundreds of people climbing up and down Thomas Heatherwick’s Vessel sculpture, like tiny maggots crawling all over a rotting doner kebab.
The first phase of Hudson Yards opened last month and people have indeed come – mostly to gawp at how it could have been allowed to happen. On a vast swath of the west side of Manhattan once earmarked for New York’s 2012 Olympic bid, a developer has conjured a private fantasy of angular glass towers stuffed with offices and expensive apartments, rising above a seven-storey shopping mall on an endless grey carpet, sprinkled with small tufts of “park”.
The surprising thing isn’t that such a development has happened. The real shock is that it’s quite so bad. Hudson Yards’ marketing hype is showered with superlatives: this is the largest and most expensive private real estate project in US history, a place bursting with “never-before-seen” retail concepts and “first-of-its-kind” dining destinations. It is billed as the ultimate in everything, a refined playground for discerning urbanites, with stores where you can spend five figures on a wristwatch and $800 on a haircut.
Lovechild of a pretzel … Vessel by Thomas Heatherwick.
Yet it all feels so cheap. From the architectural zoo of convulsing angles to the apparent lack of care spent on the details, this is bargain-basement building-by-the-yard stuff that would feel more at home in the second-tier city of a developing economy. Stephen Ross, the billionaire boss of the Related Companies and driving force of the project, described it as a “museum of architecture”, which isn’t untrue. Walking through Hudson Yards feels like browsing a cladding depot, where panels of curtain-wall glazing, brushed aluminium and bits of stone collide in a wonky collage. …
Ed. Makes me wonder just how much stuff can be stuck into the ground in Manhattan before the combined weight of it all causes it to slide off into the sea.
6 Utterly Insane Movie Moments Everybody Forgets Exist
With the possible exception of the Rob Schneider canon, movies probably don’t cause brain damage. Still, it can be hard to remember every detail of every movie you’ve seen. So it’s understandable if the more out-there moments from certain recent motion pictures managed to slip your mind and generally fly under the radar. In case you’ve forgotten, or were unaware of them in the first place, we’ve gathered some of the crazier details from movies such as …
6. Transformers: Age Of Extinction Is Creepy Even For Michael Bay
Ah, the Transformers franchise. The drunken frat party to the irritated neighbor that is cinema. After three movies starring Shia LaBeouf and the robots he was clearly hallucinating, the fourth film in the series, Age Of Extinction, pivoted to star the decidedly less problematic *checks notes* Mark Wahlberg. Our new hero is Cade Yeager, an energy drink granted sentience via a wish on a Zoltar machine. While the most outrageous thing to happen in a Transformers movie was previously a planet-sized robot voiced by the guy who made Citizen Kane, here the story stops to *checks notes* pore over age of consent laws.
It turns out Yeager’s 17-year-old daughter is dating a 20-year-old guy. When Cade threatens to call the cops on him, he decides to prove he’s not a creep by promptly whipping out a copy of the Texas laws concerning statutory rape, which he keeps laminated in his wallet. He then proceeds to explain how the Romeo and Juliet law lets him legally date a minor. Keep in mind, this fellow’s not a Decepticon or anything; he’s supposed to be one of the good guys.
There are a few levels of weirdness here. For one, wouldn’t it be way easier to just have Yeager’s daughter be a legal adult, thus negating the need for an entire scene focused on statutory rape in a movie based on a line of small plastic children’s toys? Also, considering some of the stories about Bay, including this feels a tad bit like the Hamburglar interrupting your Happy Meal to wax poetic on exactly how he sexually gratifies himself after a successful hamburger heist. (He diligently makes love to a giant pile of purloined sirloin.) …
John Oliver’s Mike Pence Parody Among Top Banned Books of 2018
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo tells the story of Vice President Mike Pence’s pet rabbit Bundo, who discovers his gay identity and falls in love with another bunny.
A parody children’s book released by the host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, John Oliver, ranks second on the list of top banned or challenged books in schools and libraries, according to a new report.
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo tells the story of Vice President Mike Pence’s pet rabbit Bundo, who discovers his gay identity and falls in love with another hare named Wesley. Pence is portrayed in the book as an oppressive, white-haired stink bug who tries to prevent the two rabbits from getting married. “When Marlon, Wesley, and their supportive animal community realize that they can choose who is in charge of their society, they vote out the Stink Bug and the couple is married surrounded by their friends,” the book description reads.
The book is a riff on a children’s book written by the Vice President’s daughter Charlotte Pence and illustrated by his wife Karen Pence. The book, which bears a similar title, narrates a day in the life of the vice president’s pet rabbit.
After its release in March 2018, Oliver’s version outsold the vice president’s book and replaced former FBI Director James Comey’s at Amazon’s No. 1 bestseller spot.
The American Library Association and the Office for Intellectual Freedom release an annual report on the 10 most challenged book titles in the country (this year, 11), based on censorship in schools and libraries. Alex Gino’s George tops the list. According to the report, the book was banned, challenged, and relocated because it was believed to encourage children to clear browser history and change their bodies using hormones, and for mentioning “dirty magazines,” describing male anatomy, “creating confusion,” and including a transgender character. …
Mike Pence is much more unlikable than his pet rabbit who stars in a new children’s book created by the Pence family and in a better children’s book created by us. To purchase our book, visit: www.betterbundobook.com
THANKS to HBO and Last Week Tonight for making this program available on YouTube.
They Started a Ned Flanders Metal Band. Then ‘The Simpsons’ Called
Phoenix “Nedal” band Okilly Dokilly’s “White Wine Spritzer” video played over the closing credits of recent episode
The Phoenix metal band dedicated to Ned Flanders, Okilly Dokilly, appeared during the closing credits of a recent ‘Simpsons’ episode.
On Sunday night, the closing credits of the 659th episode of The Simpsons were suddenly interrupted. The standard black screen disappeared and was replaced by five adult men tearing through a brutal heavy metal track, guzzling white wine and smashing glasses and instruments while dressed as Ned Flanders. Devout Simpsons fans with astute ears might’ve even recognized the lyrics the frontman was barking, “You only live once/give me a white wine spritzer.”
The closing credits clip wasn’t some elaborate prank concocted by The Simpsons’ writers and producers, but a music video made by the band Okilly Dokilly for their song “White Wine Spritzer” off their 2016 debut album, Howdilly Doodilly. Formed in 2015, Okilly Dokilly proudly claim to be the world’s first (and only) “Nedal” band — a metal outfit that pulls most of its lyrics from the mouth of Springfield’s most pious denizen, Ned Flanders (“White Wine Spritzer,” for instance, comes from a Season 10 episode where Homer convinces Ned to let loose in Vegas and the two end up marrying cocktail waitresses).
“We saw the video and knew they had to be on the show,” longtime Simpsons showrunner Al Jean tells Rolling Stone. “We do not endorse their message of indiscriminate drinking of white wine spritzers.”
What started as a joke between friends four years ago has now become official Simpsons lore (and maybe even canon, a la Armin Tamzarian). Just hours after the episode aired, Okilly Dokilly shared the news with a sold out crowd at their Chicago show, and the morning after, the band’s frontman, who goes by the stage name Head Ned, says he’s still in shock. …
Deputies surround burglar in Oregon home, find out suspect is Roomba trapped in bathroom
Deputies responding to a 911 call for a “burglary in progress” at an Oregon woman’s home ended up catching the culprit – a robotic vacuum that was trapped in her bathroom.
The initial call came in from someone reporting that a stranger was in her bathroom, and that the person had the bathroom door locked, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday in a post online.
She said she could see shadows moving under the door.
Within minutes several deputies surround the home, calling for a K9 team as backup. They say they could hear a rustling noise coming from the bathroom.
After calling to the “suspect” several times over a loudspeaker, deputies went into the home with their guns drawn. After opening the bathroom door, deputies say they found an automated robot vacuum crashing around on the floor. …
Ed. Suggested Roomba
feature: ability to lock itself into a room.
Video Goodnesses
and not-so-goodnesses
and not-so-goodnesses
Bernie Sanders comes clean about his millionaire status, scientists release the first photo of a black hole, and Maxine Waters and Steve Mnuchin square off in a tense congressional hearing.
THANKS to Comedy Central and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah for making this program available on YouTube.
Donald Trump hasn’t seen or read the Mueller report. But that won’t stop him from claiming he ‘won’ it.
THANKS to CBS and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for making this program available on YouTube.
Maxine Waters refused to allow Steve Mnuchin to turn the Committee on Ways and Means into the Committee on Whines and Moans.
Krjstjen Njelsen will be remembered as one of history’s greatest monsters and still Donald Trump has managed to make it so we’ll miss her.
THANKS to TBS and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee for making this program available on YouTube.
Kellyanne and George Conway’s public feuding has been a funny bit of news for us to partake in, but nobody is having as much fun with it as Kellyanne and George are.
Seth takes a closer look at President Trump telling government officials to ignore the law when it comes to immigration.
THANKS to NBC and Late Night with Seth Meyers for making this program available on YouTube.
CAUTION: Some language may not be appropriate for work or children.
Here’s me commentary on The Devil’s Wheel at Oktoberfest. I’m aware it’s April right now. Cheers! O-Man.
誕生日記念動画。はなの1年間（2018）。 Hana’s 6th birthday commemoration video. Hana’s 2018.
Explorer-author Emaline Wellstone requested to be encased in a cement headstone rather than buried. Disturbingly, her will stipulated that her eyes be left exposed, so that she could "eternally gaze upon the Grandeur of this post-mortem World, & its terrifying Progress".
— Fake Atlas Obscura (@notatlasobscura) November 19, 2018
FINALLY . . .
Archaeologists Dismantled a Maya Pyramid in Guatemala and Never Put It Back Together
They tore it down in the 1960s to solve the puzzle below.
The pyramid atop 5D-33 is long gone.
When buildings are knocked down, people often don’t let them go without a fight. This week, we’re remembering some particularly contentious demolitions. Previously: a Hollywood funeral for a restaurant named for a hat, a German church knocked down in the name of coal, and a towering pagoda that was eventually rebuilt.
THE CITY FLOURISHED DEEP IN the forest. In the ancient complex of Tikal, in northern Guatemala, the tops of the limestone temples poked out above the thick canopy, where toucans croak and howler monkeys scramble.
Modern-day visitors will see that some restored temples still rise up above the branches of mahoganies and cedars—but at least one has been reduced to its squat foundation. Researchers dubbed it Structure 5D-33, and suspected that its pyramid went up during the sixth or seventh century. On the stony surface where its sides used to reach skyward, there are now little blankets of grass, like patchy area rugs.
Its squashed dimensions aren’t simply the product of one millennium turning into another. Archaeologists deliberately dismantled the structure decades ago—and rattled the field in the process.
In the mid-1960s, American archaeologists were wrapping up an extensive excavation of the site. Over more than a decade, wrote William R. Coe, the project director and a curator at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, the crew had studied nearly 350 structures, and compiled “millions of facts and hundreds of thousands of objects” along the way. The haul was so vast that storage facilities “bulged” with figurines, pendants, and vessels, Coe wrote. By the time the crew packed out, leaving their vehicles rusting in the green tangles, they had shot tens of thousands of photographs and filled “stacks” of journals and “bales and rolls” of paper with architectural drawings and field notes. …
This prohibition-era whisky cartel never accepted the end of Prohibition, and continues to operate a highly clandestine speakeasy in an an abandoned subway station somewhere beneath Boston.
— Fake Atlas Obscura (@notatlasobscura) November 19, 2018
Ed. More tomorrow? Possibly. Maybe. Probably Not. Groundhog Day (or something).