Originally this was supposed to be a post on Murphy beds, but then I found this video on transformable furniture by Resource Furniture. What fun stuff!
This cute little site by Zefrank enables you to grow an orange tree even if, like me, you live in a place where it's too cold to grow oranges. Just click on any blank space and watch your tree grow. Click again to erase.
This is a clip from a video made 2 years go and the original (I cut the first few and the last few seconds) doesn't seem to have gotten many hits. I can't understand why. It has one of my favorite songs by ELO, and this is a talented troupe of young performers.
Unfortunately, the police did give them 3 $100 dollar tickets at the end, so there wasn't a happy ending. (And yes, I understand the reasons why, but that doesn't negate their talent or the fact that this was a fun video). If you'd like to see the video in its entirety with the extra 20 seconds, here's the link (note: there is a bit of language at the end).
I was very much afraid of escalators when I was little, no doubt because I can at times be rather clumsy and the whole business of trying to get off of one without stumbling made me nervous. I still prefer to use the stairs but these days it's because taking the escalator makes me feel lazy. Still, there's no denying that they serve a useful purpose. I can definitely see it as one of those inventions where people kept saying, "wouldn't it be nice if..." and eventually the idea was born.
So how did the escalator come to be? Well, Nathan Ames of Saugus, Massachusetts is credited with the first patent for an escalator in 1859. He called his invention the Revolving Stairs. Unfortunately, his idea was rather vague regarding materials, power, and practical uses, and it was never built.
Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas with its curved escalators
The first actual patent for an escalator was issued to Leamon Souder in 1889, but nothing came of it as this escalator was never built, so it fell to Jesse Reno to produce the first actual escalator (which he called the "inclined elevator") in 1892, and in 1896 one was installed next to the Old Iron Pier on Coney Island in New York. From all descriptions, it sounds a bit like a conveyor belt moving along at a 25 degree incline.
Eventually, Charles Seeberger, using the designs of George Wheeler, developed an escalator with steps (although at first without the ridges to keep a person from slipping) and the first commercial elevator developed by Seeberger in conjunction with the Otis Elevator Company won a major prize, and the rest is history. Otis Elevator had the monopoly on the escalator, at least for awhile.
Of course, nowadays there are even escalators for your shopping carts, like this on in a Target store. Source
Or inclined moving walkways with no stairs at all.
Lastly, here's a very short video of the world's shortest escalator (certified by Guinness in 1989).
And here's a fast-forward through what claims to the longest escalator system (not single elevator but an astonishing series of escalators connected by very short distances). Why go to the amusement park when you can do this all day for free? (Note: This didn't make me dizzy but if you have a tendency toward dizziness, you might want to skip this one).
You may well have seen this Jackson Pollock site. It's been around for awhile and won a Webby in 2009. But it was new to me when I first saw it on The Presurfer, so I'm passing it along just in case there are more novices like me out there. One note: on the site, there's an old version (the one I used to make the image below) and also a new version. The site says that the new version has issues with Internet Explorer, but I couldn't get it to work with Chrome, either. Just so you know.
In this animation by Daniel Erhart, a man used to typing on a manual typewriter is dragged into the computer age when his typewriter breaks, but he's clearly a bit confused about how a computer works.
This video by Ole C. Salomonsen titled "Celestial Lights" was filmed in the northern parts of Norway, Finland and Sweden during autumn of 2011 and winter and spring of 2012. I don't know what the music is, but it's fantastic.
Most of my usual posts are light-hearted, so although the video below is absolutely beautiful, I want to warn you that it is a message from a dying man. Philip Gould died in 2011, but during his last few weeks he shared his thoughts, his insights, his strength and his vision of his death journey. When I Die is incredibly touching and important and I'm very grateful that he was willing to share his thoughts with the world.
So, let's have a few (a very few) fun facts about penguins.
There are between 17 and 20 species (different sources claim different numbers. Rockhoppers, for example, are sometimes treated as one species and sometimes split into 3 different species). At any rate, all of them live in the southern hemisphere, with the exception of those at the northernmost part of the Galápagos Islands (so no, polar bears and penguins cannot have parties together).
Populations of penguins are found in Antarctica, of course, but also in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Chile and Argentina. And, as mentioned earlier, there's also a Galápagos penguin. That's pretty far north, but the cold Antarctic Humboldt Current flows around the islands. The Emperor penguin is the only species that actually breeds and nests in Antarctica.
We've all seen the Emperor penguin males handling all the incubation duties. Sorry ladies, they're the only species that does this. Other species share the duties (at least they're sharing. After all, a girl--or a guy--needs a rest and a chance to catch fish now and then).
Check out this brave little penguin making a big leap in this very popular video from last year. The person who made the video said that the drop was about 15 feet/4 meters. (Note: I have no control over the caption/link embedded at the bottom of the video, so apologies in advance).
You may have already seen this P&G ad for the 2012 Olympic Games touting the best job in the world as being a mom.
Being a mom myself, I tend to agree. There's nothing I've ever done that matters more or is more rewarding. But here's the other side of the coin: a 2007 video about a man who, as a dad, has the best job in the world.
I don't usually post videos from television competitions. There are so many of them around, and by the time I see them, they've received tons of views. This one is no different, so many of you may have already seen it, but "La Vie en Rose" is one of my favorite songs, and this young woman from The Voice: Australia did such a lovely job that I'm breaking my rules. My apologies if this is a rerun for some of you (it's worth another listen, isn't it)?
With e-readers becoming more popular, I was afraid that bookends might be less plentiful than they had been in the past. So, I went searching and here are some examples of what I found. (Note: I seldom use bookends because my shelves are full. I think that's true for a lot of people, but now and then you have that one shelf that needs a bookend).
Sometimes when I'm writing, I really need to know the distance between two locations "as the crow flies" rather than via roads. "How Far Is It Between" is a useful mapping tool to use in those instances.
Look at this. I go away for the weekend and when I come back, I find that I've missed a fine and fun commercial that's going viral. Watch as this fireman explains how to make a margarita.
Recently Montblanc decided to celebrate the 190th anniversary of the invention of the chronograph by Nicolas Rieussec and to build awareness of Monblanc, known for their pens, as a maker of watches and chronographs. They did this by running a contest titled "The Beauty of a Second," explained in the video below (and yes, there is a bit of an advertisement tone to this one, but it does explain what the contest was all about and how the results were chosen. Plus, it has a nice soundtrack).
What is shown below are compilations of the one-second entries (again with great music). These have a bit of an Amelie feel to them, IMO.
Record keeping being what it was back in the day, there is debate about Shakespeare's dates of birth and death, but it is believed that he died on April 23rd, and as he was baptized on April 26th (and people were typically baptized soon after being born back then), some believe that he may also have been born on April 23rd.
But April 23rd or not, there's no questioning the fact that his work has lived on through the ages. So here is his greatest monologue as presented by THE VOICES PROJECT by The Australian Theatre for Young People. Even if you're not a Shakespeare lover, you might find that you like To Be.
Jennifer Maestre makes sculptures from pencils. According to her website, she was originally inspired by the form and function of the sea urchin. She takes hundreds of pencils, cuts them into segments, sharpens them, drills them out to turn them into beads and then stitches them together into her amazing sculptures.
I almost can't believe I'm posting about a cross-dressing squirrel, but I just couldn't resist. Tommy Tucker apparently was a sensation in 1940's Washington D.C. and helped sell war bonds. My favorite quote was in reference to what happened to Tommy after his death in 1949, of natural causes. It reads,"His whereabouts--and those of his dresses--are unknown."
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. - Cree Indian Proverb (Note: I did not check the authenticity of this quote, so the attribution may be wrong, but the thought is still meaningful).
I'm sure that most of us know how powerful water can be. We've seen examples on the news. But this National Geographic video, featuring Richard Ambrose and Jonny Phillips, makes it very clear and gives some great examples.
Sophie Blackall, well known for her children's book illustrations, found the inspiration for a book in the section of Craigslist called Missed Connections (if you've never heard of it, it's where people who have made contact with anonymous strangers are now trying to locate them. The Etsy Blog calls it the Internet realm of lost and found). That led to some wonderful art and a book titled Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found. Then the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York) commissioned her to design one of their Art Cards (a prominent piece of subway art displayed in the subway cars).
I love these little slice of life videos. In this Etsy TV video, H. G. "Skip" Brack salvages tools for all over New England to support the local economy and craftsmen.
Video editor Luc Bergeron did a remix of over 100 videos of people dancing at weddings. Some of these were viral, but most were ones I'd never seen before. Not sure the music fits all the way through, but this had to involve a mountain of work.
When my kids were very young, my husband would take them outside on Mother's Day and have them pick some lilacs for me, because that's when the lilacs always bloomed. During the last few years, however, the lilacs have appeared a couple of weeks earlier than usual, and this year they're a full month early. We're also seeing a record number of red admiral butterflies in the Chicago area. My neighbor took these photos of a red admiral on our lilacs. (I wish I could bottle the scent and send some to you).
And yes, I'm being sarcastic. The Hover Scooter was apparently a 1960's invention, a cross between a hover craft and a motor scooter, but as someone in the comments section said, it was probably fatal to any small creature it managed to roll over (not to mention the noise).
As for me, I like garlic just fine (although I have some relatives who won't touch it, which makes cooking difficult at times), but I'm not sure I need to sing a song about it. If you do, however, here's a rather nice one (the images keep repeating, so about 40 seconds in, you'll have seen all of them).
And if you want to know how to easily peel garlic, here's a very short tutorial.
Bird Box has finally put up a new video (they're one of my favorites and it's been months since their last). A rescue is in progress, and victory is near. (And yes, it's dark humor, so it may not be to everyone's taste).
Listen at :09 for what the rescuer clearly didn't hear.
The TopBrewer Coffee faucet was made to tempt coffee drinkers like me. It is, as someone commented, a bit like a futuristic, Star Trek-type coffee maker. I was unable to find pricing on this as of yet, but I can only imagine that it's going to cost more than most of us have.
Grant Woolard composed 4 pieces, one for each season and added interesting (and sometimes funny) visual elements. The 4 background photos of the mountain are by Glenn Randall.
And while I often dismiss the titles of videos that contain the words "best" or "greatest" as being misleading, I have to say that the young woman juggling in this video is amazingly adept.
This Nintendo Controller coffee table has been making the rounds of the internet lately, and it can be purchased at Etsy. So, I decided to see what other unusual tables were for sale on Etsy.
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