Don’t blink! A 30-minute cartoon may contain over 18,000 separate drawings.
Don’t blink! A 30-minute cartoon may contain over 18,000 separate drawings.
Author: Uncle John
One beehive can have as many as 80,000 bees.
One beehive can have as many as 80,000 bees.
Winston Churchill once designed greeting cards for Hallmark.
Winston Churchill once designed greeting cards for Hallmark.
C.S. Lewis received more than 800 rejection letters before selling his first book.
C.S. Lewis received more than 800 rejection letters before selling his first book.
The Rolling Hills Country Club in Florida was the setting for the movie Caddyshack.
The Rolling Hills Country Club in Florida was the setting for the movie Caddyshack.
In the 1850s, Americans set their watches in as many as a hundred local times.
In the 1850s, Americans set their watches in as many as a hundred local times.
Run DMC was the first rap group to perform on TV’s “American Bandstand.”
Run DMC was the first rap group to perform on TV’s “American Bandstand.”
Superman made his first flight in a DC comic in 1938.
Superman made his first flight in a DC comic in 1938.
Happy Fifth Anniversary, YouTube
On this date five years ago the very first video ever was uploaded to internet video behemoth YouTube. It was created by YouTube cofounder Jawed Karim, and is just 19 seconds long. And I know it might be difficult to believe, with the millions of horrible rotten awful just plain dumb videos that have been uploaded to the site in the time since, but this very first video just might be The Most Boring YouTube Video…Ever. Even more boring than this one, which, you might like to know, is titled, “The Most Boring YouTube Video…Ever.” Go ahead. Watch and decide for yourself:
Happy Anniversary, YouTube
Today is the fifth anniversary of the very first video upload to internet video behemoth YouTube. It’s just 19 seconds long and was made by YouTube cofounder Jawed Karim. And I know itit might be hard to believe, with the millions of horribly awful videos that have been uploaded to the site over the last five years, but this very first one is a strong contender for The Most Boring Video in YouTube History. I kid you not. Watch:
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a shortstop!
Holy cow, don’t know how we missed this YouTube clip. Here’s to Fordham University’s Brian Kownacki, and the “Safe!” heard ’round the (YouTube) world. (1,193,475 views…in two days.) Here’s a quote from Kownacki to set the clip up:
“I got about halfway between third and home and I knew I was in trouble, but there was no turning back,” he tells the Daily News. ” When I was about five feet away, I saw the catcher kneel down in a crouch.”
Earth Day Special: The Recycle Symbol
Hap
py Earth Day, Earthlings! Here’s a cool little story for the occasion, from Uncle John’s Certified Organic Bathroom Reader (page 21), on the creation of that nifty little symbol used the world around that let’s you know if a product is recyclable and/or made from recycled materials. Little known fact: It’s creation was timed to coincide with the very first Earth Day.
The New $100 Notes
The new high-tech $100 bills are in, and they are pretty darn cool looking.
If that’s not exciting enough for you, watch this totally bizarre video the Treasury Department made introducing the new note. It’s just images of the note, strangely dramatic music, and occasssional onscreen text describing some of the new bill’s features. Example: “Bell in the inkwell.” (Which would be a great name for a emo band.)
George Washington, Shame On You!
It seems that our first president, that paragon of virtue who could not even lie about cutting down a cherry tree (although he apparently had no problem going around randomly cutting down cherry trees), was a bandit borrower of books:
Founder of a nation, trouncer of the English, God-fearing family man: all in all, George Washington has enjoyed a pretty decent reputation. Until now, that is.
The hero who crossed the Delaware river may not have been quite so squeaky clean when it came to borrowing library books.
The New York Society Library, the city’s only lender of books at the time of Washington’s presidency, has revealed that the first American president took out two volumes and pointedly failed to return them.
At today’s prices, adjusted for inflation, he would face a late fine of $300,000.
It should be noted that this story is from a British news source, so it should be taken with a grain of sore loser salt.
And holy cow—we’ve just found a terribly incriminating photo of the Father of our Nation about to engage in one of his notorious book thefts! Join us after the jump for this shocking, never before seen photo!
The Locust Pizza: Take the Pizza From My Hand, Grasshopper
Or should that be, “Take the Grasshopper From My Pizza, Hand”?
As locusts swarm across Australia, folks are finding a way to get back at the insects that devour crops – eat ‘em!
One café in Mildura, northern Victoria state, is offering locusts as a crunchy topping for pizza, CNN affiliate ABC news reports.
And, thank goodness, there’s an honest-to-goodness photo of one of the locust-topped pizzas:
The Toilet-Shaped House
Really, do we have to say anything else?
Better known as the toilet-shaped house, this showcase of superior plumbing was built by Korean Assembly Representative Sim Jae-Duck—a.k.a. Mr. Toilet—and his World Toilet Organization. It’s intended to celebrate the cultural centrality of the toilet and raise awareness of the plight of the world’s toilet-less. “We should learn to go beyond seeing toilets as just a place for defecation,” the late Mr. Sim once said, “but also as a place of culture where people can rest, meditate and be happy.”
A World Class Show Stopper
We’re working on an article for Uncle John’s Heavy Duty Bathroom Reader (due out in November 2010) called “Show Stoppers.” It’s about concerts or theater shows or whatever that had to be stopped mid-performance for one humorous or interesting reason or another. Here’s an excerpt—and it just happens to be our favorite. (We’ll tell you why at the end of the piece in the “Special Note” section.)
A Moment of Funny
I was just doing some research for an article on—well, you’ll see in November!—when I came across a Straight Dope discussion board from February where people were talking about actors who were in the midst of making films—and died before they were finished. Brandon Lee in The Crow, Vic Morrow in The Twilight Zone, and Bela Lugosi in Plan 9 from Outer Space are mentioned. Then someone wrote this:
“Keanu Reeves died at the beginning of The Matrix, but fortunately they found a plank of wood that looked just like him.”
With all due respect to Mr. Reeves—dat funny.
