General
Topics that don't neatly fall under other categories are covered here - humor, politics, and other miscellaneous subjects.
Right Brain Vs. Left Brain - The Spinning Dancer
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ShareThe Right Brain vs Left Brain Test ... do you see the dancer rotating clockwise or counter-clockwise?
If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice-versa.
Personally I saw the dancer turning clockwise, although I still consider myself more left-brained.
Life's Imponderables
If you've been on the internet longer than six months, then you've probably seen lists like these cluttering in your e-mail inboxes. Still, some of these are corkers and are worth reading again.
Did you ever stop and wonder......
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are dead?
Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Why do they call it a TV "set" when you only have one?
Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?
Why is brassiere singular and panties...
2008: The Year The World Will Cool Down
Courtesy of The Daily Mail:
The world will experience global cooling this year, according a leading climate scientist.
The head of the World Meteorological Organisation said La Nina - the weather phenomenon which is cooling the Pacific - is likely to trigger a small drop in average global temperatures compared with last year.
The prediction - which follows a bitterly cold winter in China and the Arctic - is prompting some sceptics to question the theory of climate change...
Link
What's On The Inside of Electronic Stuffed Animals?
Designer Matt Kirkland got curious and wanted to see what lurked inside of electronic stuffed animals and toys. After removing the fur, padding, and stuffing, he found that the innards ranged from simple voiceboxes to fairly-intricate robots.
The Billy Letters - Thirty-Something Man Poses As Ten-Year-Old And Writes To Convicted Killers And Other Celebrities
Back in the late 1990s, then-unemployed Bill Geerhart had a ingenious idea - he would pose as a 10-year-old boy and write to both the infamous and the famous. He requested from convicted killers such as Charles Manson, Richard Ramirez, and the Unabomber advice on whether or not he should stay in school. He asked Larry Flynt, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alan Greenspan, and others for photos and a variety of questions, all from the viewpoint of young Billy. Most responded back, and the results are never less than entertaining. Courtesy of Radar Magazine, here are The Billy Letters.
Fake Skylights and Windows
Want a skylight or window in your office that gives a picturesque view 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? The Sky factory is a company that specializes in lighting that creates photographic illusions of real skies and landscapes. The realiistic-looking image tiles are backlit by fluorescent or LED lighting.
Jeff Goldblum Apple Ad at Half Speed
Here's an Apple ad starring Jeff Goldblum from a few years back that has been slowed down to 1/2 it's original speed. It makes him sound like he's drunk as a skunk.
Guy Dresses Like DJ to Get Into Clubs for Free
Bizarre Music Video of Telly Savalas Doing "If"
Here's a strange video of the late actor Telly Savalas doing a spoken-word version of the song "If". The 1975 clip features the "Kojak" star lounging around, smoking a cigarette, and surrounded by a harem of beauties. I'm not sure what the camera is supposed to be looking through - is it a glass beer bottleneck? Nonetheless, something like this might have been considered sexy and even romantic (and that's stretching it) over thirty years ago, nowadays it comes across as simultaneously creepy and laughable.
Telly Savalas - "If"
Faces of Meth
See "before" and "after" mug shots of methamphetamine users and the effect the drug (and the associated lifestyle) has had on their physical appearance. Link
Han Solo Carbonite Desk
Who wouldn't want this awesome Han Solo Carbonite Desk in their office or den? It was created by Tom Spina and Richard Riley of New York-based Tom Spina Designs.
Classic Tex Avery Cartoons That Predicted the Future
If you're over the age of 30 (like me), you probably watched a LOT of the classic Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons when you came home after school. Ocassionally your local TV station would sprinkle in gems during those time slots that didn't feature the main animal characters, such as the hilarious Tex Avery-directed "Tomorrow" shorts. I haven't seen these in over twenty years, so it was a blast to see them again. Here are two of those cartoons that humorously prognosticated what television and automobiles would be like in the future:
Tex Avery - TV of Tomorrow
Tex Avery - Car of Tomorrow
Secret Video of Hillary’s 1996 Bosnia Visit
Apollo 11 Moonwalk Area Compared to Soccer Field, Baseball Diamond
The Strangemaps website has posted links to a couple of extremely cool map graphics: the area where the Apollo 11 astronauts (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin) walked on the moon in July 1969 compared to the sizes of a standard soccer field and a Major League Baseball diamond.
Click on the images below to view the full moonwalk maps:
Heavy Metal Parking Lot
John Heyn and Jeff Krulik's documentary film Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a classic celebration and good-natured mockery of partying hard rock fans outside of a Judas Priest concert in 1986. If you've heard about this (it's been floating around on VHS bootleg tapes for years) but have never witnessed these goofy characters, you're in for a treat. This is pure gold:
If you want a better quality version of Heavy Metal Parking Lot, it's finally available on DVD at Amazon.
The Beatles Featuring David Lee Roth
You've got to hand it to the guys who think up these things and then construct them. Here's a nicely edited audio/video mashup featuring The Beatles and David Lee Roth performing "Drive My Car" and "Runnin' With the Devil":
In case you were wondering, the Beatles footage was taken from their 1968 "Revolution" video, and Van Halen's from their "Runnin' With the Devil" clip produced ten years later. Audio was the naked David Lee Roth studio vocal track of "Runnin'" (that surfaced some time last year) inserted into the Fab Four's classic hit from Rubber Soul...
RobertsSTL Site
Things are going to slow down a bit on the RobertsSTL.com site, so don't be expecting a whole lot of updates. Instead, in the coming months I'm going to focus more attention on updating my Scott Roberts web site.
Jerry the Dog and His Ball-Throwing Machine
Jerry the dog needs no help playing with his ball, thanks to this cool ball-throwing machine:
Bad Physics Report Card For Sci-Fi Movies
IO9 has posted a report card for bad physics in science fiction movies. Both Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff passed, but technically they're not science fiction; they're science fact and history. I'm surprised Armageddon didn't fail on more topics, as there are more inconsistencies, continuity errors, and plot holes in it than any other sci-fi movie I can think of...
Garfield Comic Spoofs
Have you always loved the antics of Garfield, the lasagna-loving cat? Yeah, me neither. Here are a few links that poke fun at the ridiculously unfunny comic:
Remove that wisecracking orange feline from every frame of the comic strip and you get Garfield Minus Garfield. It's amusing to see Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, turn into a lonely, depressed, schizophrenic man who has conversations with thin air.
Realfield borrows from that last idea and pushes it further by replacing Garfield with a real, non-talking cat. Jon is even more psychopathically sad in this one.
My favorite is the Garfield Randomizer, where three random frames from Garfield cartoons are generated in succession. Both surreal and goofy, these are funnier and make just about as much sense as any real Garfield comic strip.
Lastly, things get taken to an extremely bizarre level with Lasagna Cat. Actors dress up as the Garfield characters in costumes and act out actual strips that have run in the past...
Spicy Food Reviews - Hot Sauces, Spicy Snacks, and more.
