Odds and sods I look at regularly, just because they amuse me. I hope they do the same for you. Incidentally, I found this page’s title on Greg Ross’s Futility Closet (it’s somewhere on this page) in a mini-article which also includes the delightful sentence in Icelandic: Barbara Ara bar Ara araba bara rabbabara. Ross points out that this, “besides being fun to say, is spelled with only three letters. It means “Barbara, daughter of Ari, brought only rhubarb to Ari the Arab.”
Mental Floss » 5 Things We Learned from The Knick's Medical Advisor
Dr. Stanley Burns is the medical advisor for The Knick, a medical drama starring Clive Owen and directed by Steven Soderbergh. We have a lengthy interview with Dr. Burns; here are five highlights. 1. His Million-Photo Collection is Mostly Organized in His Head When I asked how Dr. Burns keeps his collection organized, his answer surprised me: Dr. Burns: It's … [Link]
Mental Floss » Interview: Dr. Stanley Burns, The Knick's Medical Advisor
Dr. Stanley Burns is the medical advisor for The Knick. He's also curator of an encyclopedic archive of historical medical photography. [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Fark-ready headline: Stiffed hooker snatches hookas. In her hoo-ha? [Interesting]
[link] [34 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Not wanting to let a bunch of pansies in MISSOURI show them up, 10 districts in Texas are going one step further and using military surplus hardware, including trucks, guns, and body armor, to arm their SCHOOL police forces [Scary]
[link] [168 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Loyal puppy waits in operating room while cheetah pal undergoes surgery. D'awwwwww [Sappy]
[link] [31 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Criminal, tired of the cops getting all the bad press, decide to start modifying real guns to look like children's toys [Scary]
[link] [86 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » "The two squared off in the parking lot with their respective weapons." Bottle returns: serious business [Dumbass]
[link] [16 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » When the people of Estonia want to cool off, they dive into an underwater prison filled with algae-covered razor wire and rusty machine parts [Weird]
[link] [16 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Just some pictures of sculptures used as power line towers [Cool]
[link] [22 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Cemetery worker's condition upgraded from grave to critical [Fail]
[link] [11 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Federal court says Yelp manipulating reviews is not extortion, just hard bargaining [Interesting]
[link] [97 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Hoarders and capuchin monkeys just aren't a good fit [Obvious]
[link] [23 comments] [Link]
Mental Floss » How Should I Chill My Glassware?
For most of us, chilling glasses and mugs should be easy: Throw them in the fridge for a few hours before the big party. But if you’ve ever left this task to the last minute, you know that it takes a while—even if they’re put in the freezer. Chill Out Cocktails reach their theoretical ideal temperature and dilution point when … [Link]
Mental Floss » 27 Offbeat College Essay Topics
"How do you feel about Wednesday?" [Link]
Fark.com RSS » James Cameron: Artist. Director. Undersea explorer. Owner of a produce market in New Zealand [Interesting]
[link] [35 comments] [Link]
FMyLife » anonymous says FML
Today, I just got back from a two week vacation. I live with six people and only the dog was happy to see me. FML [Link]
FMyLife » anonymous says FML
Today, my boyfriend was about to sneeze. To avoid getting his new tablet wet, he chose to sneeze right into my face instead. FML [Link]
Fark.com RSS » The NYPD can't tell the difference between Jolly Ranchers and Crystal Methamphetamine. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it. The meth that is. You can't smoke Jolly Ranchers [Followup]
[link] [122 comments] [Link]
Mental Floss » The Missing Links: A Different Look at Famous Scenes
From Another Angle Check out photography that shows another vantage point on a famous scene. * The Grown-Up Rascals The now adult cast of 1994’s The Little Rascals just recreated the movie's group shot poster. * Nick at Nite And Nick in the Day. Nick anytime really with this website that streams old Nickelodeon shows. * Bringing the Movies to … [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Photoshop theme: Redesign a well-known brand's logo. Link goes to crappy example [Photoshop]
[link] [49 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Let's take a moment and forget about the craziness happening around the world to focus on something of utmost importance to our species: the Fark Weird News Quiz [Survey]
[link] [22 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Somali PM confirms US airstrikes shish kabobbed al Shabaab leader [Cool]
[link] [70 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Add "unsupervised cartwheels" to the list of things trying to kill kids in Australia [Stupid]
[link] [25 comments] [Link]
Mental Floss » The Most Popular NFL Team by County
"The New York Jets do not have a plurality of fans in any U.S. county." [Link]
Fark.com RSS » This is sure to end well [Scary]
[link] [80 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Drunk Asian Robber Superman tries to fly. "I know it doesn't make sense but it did to me when I was drunk" [Fail]
[link] [20 comments] [Link]
The Onion » American Voices: Russian Mating Geckos Didn’t Survive Trip To Space
Russia’s space agency confirmed this week that a group of geckos that were launched into space in July in order to study “the effects of weightlessness on lizard mating” didn’t survive the journey. 
[Link]
Fark.com RSS » Woman gets all bitey after cops stop to ask why she's taking her car apart with pliers in the middle of the highway [Dumbass]
[link] [28 comments] [Link]
Futility Closet » Black and White
By William Anthony Shinkman. White to mate in two moves. Click for solution … [Link]
Fark.com RSS » "Most unloved dog in England" has been in an animal shelter for seven years, been passed up by approximately 17,000 people looking for pets. Your dog wants someone to take Jed home [Sad]
[link] [151 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » When most people say they want to find the Abominable Snowman, they are ridiculed by society. When David Attenborough says it, society believes [Hero]
[link] [38 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » US Doctor with Ebola arrives in Nebraska, will be treated in special isolation unit which consists of being in Nebraska [Followup]
[link] [52 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Smartphone app helps save baby's life, presumably by teaching the child which birds should be avoided due to their anger issues [Interesting]
[link] [8 comments] [Link]
Mental Floss » 26 Fancy, Unusual Plurals That Work Like “Attorneys General”
Some plurals work in unexpected ways. [Link]
Fark.com RSS » NORAD dispatched F-15s to investigate 'unresponsive aircraft' over the atlantic. Payne Stewart unavailable for comment. UPDATE: Plane has crashed into the ocean off the coast of Jamaica [News]
[link] [450 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Scary Cardboard Nun haunts hospital groundbreaking [Amusing]
[link] [12 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » NATO members United States, Britain, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Denmark are going into Iraq and Syria to totally destroy ISIS. Come for the massive bombing campaign, stay for the kick-ass menu [News]
[link] [255 comments] [Link]
Mental Floss » What Was Your Worst Travel Experience?
On Fridays, we ask a bunch of unrelated questions. Your answers help get us through the afternoon. Answer one, answer all, or ask your own question. On to this week's topics… [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Neighbor: Well, you know, now that you mention it, we did hear a lot of screaming for help and violent banging around upstairs and I guess in retrospect it was kind of odd that she always wore a black leather collar [Dumbass]
[link] [92 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Torn from the front page of the Bangor Daily News: "Who the hell are you to tell me I can't have a rooster?" [Interesting]
[link] [53 comments] [Link]
The Onion » Chase Executives Fondly Recall Financial Company’s Hip-Hop Roots
NEW YORK—Sitting in the multinational corporation’s boardroom, Chase executives reportedly spent most of Friday afternoon nostalgically recalling the financial company’s hip-hop roots, reminiscing about being young bankers who helped cre… 
[Link]
Mental Floss » The Weird Week in Review
Guilty Beyond the Eyeshadow of a Doubt Brandy Allen’s mugshot may be in itself incriminating, as the Arkansas woman is accused of shoplifting $144 worth of makeup. When Allen was confronted after stuffing the makeup into her bag, she unleashed a slew of profanity while attempting to damage the eyeshadow as she pulled it from her purse, so it’d seem … [Link]
Mental Floss » 28 Keys to Decoding British Pub Menus
Most of us know that American “fries” are British “chips.” Here’s a glossary to help you out of trickier menu muddles. [Link]
Mental Floss » Brain Game: A Piece of Pie
Grab your fork and come up with an answer for today's open-ended mentalfloss.com Brain Game Free-for-All Friday challenge. Enjoy: Give ONE example of an English word
that incorporates the letter sequence "PIE." EXAMPLES: HAPPIER, PIECES, MAGPIE Please add your single entry to our
comment list below, and have a great weekend! [Link]
Fark.com RSS » You know how Chuck E. Cheese and his friends always looked like they wanted to eat you? Well, you weren't imagining it [Scary]
[link] [83 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Popeye's worker assaulted after he tried to collect from another employee who promised to pay him Tuesday for a hamburger today [Dumbass]
[link] [31 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » In this week's edition of "The thing that will kill us all." *Spins wheel* Oh shiat [Scary]
[link] [149 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » "Dear Prudence: My wife only lets me have sex with her when she's asleep. That's not weird, right? I mean, she consents before dozing off" [Fail]
[link] [181 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » China's energy demand will consume 80% more than the US by 2035. And with 50 new coal plants in the pipeline, the chances of reducing their carbon footprint are nil. The best they can hope for is to shift the smog away from their cities [Scary]
[link] [77 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Police subdue naked, knife swinging man in Harlem. Thankfully, he had not yet begun shaking [Strange]
[link] [26 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » If you're tired of Ferguson, ISIS, Gaza, Ebola, and all that stuff, there are still places on Earth where the headline-grabbing trial of the year involves two SCUBA divers who had an underwater fight over a tropical fish [Silly]
[link] [38 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Perhaps feeling left out, police in London prove they are also capable of shooting people to death [Obvious]
[link] [34 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Czech President Milos Zeman: "What evidence is there of a Russian presence in Ukraine?" Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister: "Is there a Czech intelligence service? Maybe you should ask them" [Amusing]
[link] [54 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Healthcare.gov hacked back in July, discovered ten days ago. I expected better from a trillion dollar website [Fail]
[link] [99 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Woman accused of pulling gun on children. And that's how you keep your lawn clear [Scary]
[link] [48 comments] [Link]
The Onion » American Voices: NYPD Requiring Cops To Undergo Twitter Training
The New York Post reported that, following a Twitter outreach campaign that backfired horribly, the NYPD is requiring its officers to attend mandatory classes at a local college on how to use Twitter. 
[Link]
Fark.com RSS » Finally, science does something useful: they've fully mapped the coffee genome [Hero]
[link] [28 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » U.S. airman denied reenlistment for omitting "so help me God" from his oath. Doing so apparently goes against an antiquated rule established way back in October of last year [Asinine]
[link] [323 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Man who drank an entire bottle of Jack Daniels in 13 seconds says it "was a stupid thing to have done." Thanks for letting us know [Followup]
[link] [73 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Turns out jumbo shrimp are real. Anyway, we delivered the bomb [Florida]
[link] [41 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Endoscopy clinic that killed Joan Rivers getting targeted with death threats [Followup]
[link] [90 comments] [Link]
The Onion » Screws, Splintered Bones, Mangled Joints That Make Up Rob Gronkowski Poised For Huge Fantasy Year
OSN’s fantasy guru, Perry Bigwell, says owners should take a risk on the bolted-together collection of screws and tendons. 
[Link]
Fark.com RSS » Fort Lauderdale holds first Bacon Bash on Yom Kippur. אוי ווי (Oy vey) [Florida]
[link] [40 comments] [Link]
Mental Floss » Humongous New Dinosaur Discovered in Patagonia
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Dreadnoughtus schrani, a newfound giant which—thanks to an amazing skeleton—can help us better understand some of the biggest dinosaurs that ever lived. [Link]
Mental Floss » 5 Questions: Reflections
[Link]
Fark.com RSS » A man is jailed after he phones and texts ex-girlfriend 21,807 times [Dumbass]
[link] [46 comments] [Link]
The Onion » Scientists Announce Ambitious Project To Map Layer Of Garbage On Ocean Floor
WASHINGTON—Explaining that the undertaking could take up to 20 years, members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a major initiative Friday to begin mapping the massive layer of garbage on the ocean floor. 
[Link]
The Onion » Bath & Body Works Scientists Destroy Experimental Scent Unfit For Mankind
COLUMBUS, OH—Saying the consequences of unleashing such a fragrance were too grave to even contemplate, Bath & Body Works scientists announced Friday that they had destroyed an experimental new scent after determining it was unfit for humankind. 
[Link]
Fark.com RSS » Three words to make your weekend: Gummy Bear Sangria [Spiffy]
[link] [28 comments] [Link]
The Onion » Man Simultaneously Excited For, Dreading NFL Taking Up His Entire Sunday For Next Four Months
PUEBLO, CO—Admitting to feeling mixed emotions over the fact that his weekends will soon revolve around watching football, local 34-year-old Adam Gebhard told reporters Thursday that he is both incredibly excited for and somewhat dreading the coming… 
[Link]
The Onion » Slideshow: Onion Sports’ 2014 NFL Preview: NFC South
With the 2014 NFL season kicking off this week, Onion Sports has in-depth analysis on each team in the NFC South. 
[Link]
The Onion » Slideshow: Onion Sports’ 2014 NFL Preview: AFC South
With the 2014 NFL season kicking off this week, Onion Sports has in-depth analysis on each team in the AFC South. 
[Link]
The Onion » Magazine: England: A Look Inside The Forbidden Kingdom
England: A Look Inside The Forbidden Kingdom 
[Link]
Fark.com RSS » Woman killed by falling gargoyle. Xanatos must be behind this [Scary]
[link] [84 comments] [Link]
Mental Floss » There's a First World. There's a Third World. Is There a Second World?
We often hear about the plights of the Third World, and most of us have our share of First World problems. But is there something in between—a Second World? [Link]
Mental Floss » The Time John Fogerty Was Sued for Ripping Off John Fogerty
In 1993, former Creedence Clearwater Revival singer John Fogerty found himself at the center of a case being argued before the United States Supreme Court. The country’s highest court wasn’t debating whether Bayou Country or Green River was the superior CCR album. Instead, Fogerty was in the middle of an important, somewhat obscure corner of copyright law. [Link]
Weird Universe » The Crazy Crow of Tullyallen
The Irish town of Tullyallen is being tormented by a "crazy crow." It chases schoolchildren down the road, pecks loudly at windows, and attacks dogs.
The crow has become such a well-known nuisance that it's been written about in the local paper, and it now has its own Facebook page.
However, some people speculate that maybe the crow is just … [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Washington state shoots the wrong wolf, Team Jacob survives another day [Fail]
[link] [42 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Photoshop this rock reckoner [Photoshop]
[link] [19 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Of all the calls to receive from your 19 year-old daughter, the one where she tells you she's leaving Scotland, moving to Syria, and joining ISIS to marry someone has got to be the worst [Sad]
[link] [188 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » School girl made to wear "shame suit." Selfies ensue [Florida]
[link] [230 comments] [Link]
Weird Universe » Honk-O-Bag
Please nominate a celebrity from 2014 that you would like to see modeled in punching-bag format.
Original ad here. (Page 13) [Link]
Fark.com RSS » I don't care how dangerous the dog is, you are not calling him 'Hitler' [Amusing]
[link] [31 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Country singer demands Obama initiate draft to get revenge for James Foley's death. Not that country singer. No, not that one either [Asinine]
[link] [370 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Coming up on "Pawn Stars," the Prime Minister of France hocks the Mona Lisa to pay his country's debts [Fail]
[link] [54 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » There is a one-in-700-million chance of being eaten by a shark. There are 7 billion people in the world. That means ten people are being eaten by sharks right this moment screaming for help while you're busy searching for Caturday GIFs [Followup]
[link] [49 comments] [Link]
Mental Floss » Morning Cup of Links: R.I.P. Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers died yesterday at the age of 81. Celebrities took to Twitter to remember her fondly and pay tribute.
*
Nude Selfies, Rape Nail Polish, and the Dumb Idea That Women Don’t Deserve Fun. We should all have to spend our lives on the defensive.
*
8 videos of Dogs Doing Un-Dog Like Things. That's a good dog.
* … [Link]
FMyLife » rugener92 says FML
Today, my younger sister ran into my room, telling me someone was trying to break in. We were home alone, so she went to hide as I took a crowbar and followed the intruder. Just as I was about to swing, he turned around: it was my dad. I had to explain to my sister that burglars don't have keys. … [Link]
FMyLife » AllieG33 says FML
Today, after returning from taking my sister off to college, my parents told me that our house would be a lot quieter with my sister gone. Not because she's loud, but because she has friends and I apparently don't. FML [Link]
FMyLife » littleteapot says FML
Today, I complimented a guy on his beard. His response? "Thanks. Wanna sit on it?" FML [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Old and busted: Brontosaurs. New hotness: Dreadnoughtus [Cool]
[link] [103 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Here's a background on the 90 year old woman who donated $100 million to "kick cancer's ass" over the summer [Hero]
[link] [38 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Take the deafening, cacophonous noise of death metal and mix it with the shrill, cloying voices of J-Pop and you get Babymetal. May 弁財天 have mercy on us all [Scary]
[link] [238 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » How to not lose your pet turtle [Amusing]
[link] [27 comments] [Link]
Futility Closet » Talking Down
The interactive installation Text Rain (1999), by Camille Utterback and Romy Achituv, invites participants to view themselves on a monitor while letters rain down upon them. “Like rain or snow, the text appears to land on participants’ heads and arms. The text responds to the participants’ motions and can be caught, lifted, and then let fall again. The falling text … [Link]
Futility Closet » Augury
Ohio State University philosopher Stewart Shapiro relates a puzzling experience that a friend once encountered in a physics lab. “The class was looking at an oscilloscope and a funny shape kept forming at the end of the screen. Although it had nothing to do with the lesson that day, my friend asked for an explanation. The lab instructor wrote something … [Link]
Futility Closet » Postal Constraints
Letter from Lewis Carroll to Gertrude Chataway, Dec. 9, 1875: This really will not do, you know, sending one more kiss every time by post: the parcel gets so heavy it is quite expensive. When the postman brought in the last letter, he looked quite grave. ‘Two pounds to pay, sir!’ he said. ‘Extra weight, sir!’ (I think he cheats … [Link]
Futility Closet » A Step Up
Shropshire furniture maker Henry Addison patented these “elevators” in 1902: My invention has for its object a new or improved device or stand for attaching to the foot by means of which those people who are at the rear of, or short people who are in the midst of a large gathering or crowd are enabled to easily and comfortably … [Link]
Futility Closet » Misc
Image: Wikimedia Commons Denver International Airport is larger than Manhattan. C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, and John F. Kennedy died on the same day. Shakespeare mentions America only once, in Act 3, Scene 2 of The Comedy of Errors. π4 + π5 ≈ e6 “All styles are good except the boring kind.” — Voltaire (Thanks, Larry.) [Link]
Futility Closet » Unquote
“The really good music, whether of the East or of the West, cannot be analyzed.” — Albert Einstein “Aside from purely technical analysis, nothing can be said about music, except when it is bad; when it is good, one can only listen and be grateful.” — W.H. Auden [Link]
Futility Closet » Podcast: Episode 24
William McGonagall has been called “the only truly memorable bad poet in our language,” responsible for tin-eared verse that could “give you cauliflower ears just from silent reading”: Alas! Lord and Lady Dalhousie are dead, and buried at last,
Which causes many people to feel a little downcast;
And both lie side by side in one grave,
But I hope … [Link]
Futility Closet » Versatile
What’s unusual about this magic square? 
It works just as well upside down: 
From Royal V. Heath, Scripta Mathematica, March-June 1951. See Topsy Turvy. [Link]
Futility Closet » In a Word
haliography
n. a description of the sea Charles Dickens’ 1850 novel David Copperfield climaxes with a dramatic tempest at Yarmouth: The tremendous sea itself, when I could find sufficient pause to look at it, in the agitation of the blinding wind, the flying stones and sand, and the awful noise, confounded me. As the high watery walls came rolling in, … [Link]
Futility Closet » Round Trip
A time-travel paradox from Robin Le Poidevin’s Travels in Four Dimensions, 2003: Tim is spending the summer holiday at his grandfather’s house in rural Sussex. Bored one day, he wanders into his grandfather’s library. On one of the more remote shelves, Tim discovers a dusty book with no title on its spine. Opening it, he sees it is a diary, … [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Man asks judge not to publicize his name after he's caught using pliers to yank women's teeth out during sex [Asinine]
[link] [96 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Where's the cow gonna go? On the back seat of course [Stupid]
[link] [23 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » And the latest from Taco Bell's innovation team of no-limits 4-year-olds: the BISCUIT TACO [Amusing]
[link] [79 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Boko Haram reminds residents of town that Ebola is still only ranked #2 on the list "things in Nigeria that will kill you the fastest" [Scary]
[link] [74 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » The worst things Americans say while traveling abroad include: "Do you speak English?", "I love your accent," and "Where's the nearest McDonald's?" [Obvious]
[link] [315 comments] [Link]
Weird Universe » Sock It To Me
The owners of a 3 year old Great Dane took him to the vet because he was groaning and trying to throw up. After x-rays showed a mass of something in his stomach, the vet decided to operate. The surgery progressed something like a magician pulling hankies out of his pocket as the vet pulled sock after sock out of … [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Pricipal . Caught sayof school that has stoped Twerking "'This is nothing like Footloose" See, told ya so [Amusing]
[link] [81 comments] [Link]
Fark.com RSS » Photoshop this man with his head in a crack [Photoshop]
[link] [20 comments] [Link]
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