Shiny Penney

Google Maps Driving Simulator

2009-08-01T23:53:00.000-07:00

Check out GeoQuakes Google Maps Driving Simulator! I went straight for North Korea, drove around Pyongyang for a while before I parked in a big open area, full of not food and not happy people, but lots of dear leader worshiping. Fun, and a cool use of Google Maps new 3D Perspective technology.

Link

Good Music Monday: St. Vincent

2009-02-09T09:38:00.000-08:00

The melodies are simply delicious! St. Vincent is a breath of fresh air to the indie pop community. Anne Clark of St. Vincent has as opened shows for such acts as The National, Television, Arcade Fire, Briertone, Jolie Holland, John Vanderslice, Midlake, Tracy + the Plastics, Tuck & Patti, Xiu Xiu, Death Cab for Cutie and Cristina Donà. She currently resides in Brooklyn.

lala.com free music listens:

Now, Now
Paris is Burning

Me and Joel

2009-01-06T23:26:00.001-08:00

I've been working with my brother -in -law Joel for the last three + years at two different companies. This picture of two shrews reminds me of what happens when we get together.

The 80s: A Decade of Disturbing Films for Children

2008-12-30T23:32:00.000-08:00

If you were born in the late 70s or early 80s, you too have most likely visited the psychiatrist to try and erase the painfully disturbing memories of movies from the 80s. Just about every film made from 1980 to 1990 had the same underlying theme: sci-fi fantasy crap mixed with children in danger, bad singing, and unexplained and unnecessary horrible situations and characters. Here are 10 of the most disturbing films of my childhood:

Labyrinth (1986)
David Bowie is Weird. Jim Henson is Weird. Put them both together and you get a staple fantasy-drag-opera with puppets. If that isn't disturbing enough - The baby in this film gets kidnapped by evil goblin things - Disturbing? Yeah, we're just getting started - near the end of the film they put the baby in the middle of this troll palace, and David Bowie sings to it. One of the lines in this song is "slap that baby make him free!" Watching this movie as an adult made me mad. Watching it as a kid gave me nightmares.

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Besides the horror of a man eating plant - this movie explores such innocent topics like: masochism, huffing, sadism, abuse - and worst of all - Rick Moranis.... singing.... This movie disturbed me as a kid because murder and chopping people up were being sung about like Bigbird would sing about butterflies. Why did they let us watch this as kids!? If your not convinced - just watch the dentist song scene:

The Goonies (1985)
Ok so I have to admit that The Goonies is a cult classic. This movie has some great parts - but the most disturbing part watching this as a kid was seeing "Sloth", an obviosly semi-retarded disfigured person tied up in a dungeon by his mother and teased and tormented by his siblings. Why is he retarded? Oh - good ol' "Ma" dropped him on his head a few times when he was a baby. Funny! Huh! I was also somewhat disturbed as a kid when Rosalita the maid starts talking about sexual torture devices.... I was about 5 years old when I watched this one for the first time!

Pee Wees Big Adventure(1985)
This clip explains it all.

All Dogs go to Heaven(1989)
The same year that "The Little Mermaid" came out, Universal Pictures released a wonderful little kids flick that dealt with death, violence, drinking, smoking, gambling, demons and Hell. The most disturbing part that still gives me nightmares is the scene where a building-size demon is lifting up rooftops looking for the main character "Charlie." Every night I waited for that same demon to open up my roof looking for me! Thanks a lot Universal Pictures!

The Secret of NIMH(1982)
Oh this "G" rates flick will be just fine! Lets see: A group of rats at an animal testing facility receive drugs that ultimately make them smart, and, of course - horribly ugly. Just check out old Nicodemus- He looks friendly! The drugs also make them unable to move out of their stupid rose bush when a plow is about to remove it.

Legend (1985)
This one got a PG rating! I'm sure you would agree with its rating after watching the preview to this wonderful little flick starring Tom Cruise, and.. Satan.

Return to Oz (1985)
Of all the films I watched as a kid - this one was one of my favorites. I really enjoyed the characters Tik-Tok, a steampunk robot man and Jack Pumpkin Head. But this movie gets a place on my list for the very unnerving room full of heads given to witch Mombi by the Nome King. Creeeeeepy! Oh and the electric shock therapy for Dorothy at the beginning of the film settles well with most kids.

The Last Unicorn (1982)
My sister-in-law who also grew up in the 80s had this to say about this flick - "(The Last Unicorn) was one of the most disturbing, I swear! especially when the skinny guy gets tied to a tree, facing it of course, & then the large tree turns into a ugly, horny woman with large breasts right where his face is. I mean, come on! Kid film, my butt. There were a lot of moments like that in the Last Unicorn that made me wonder why we were allowed to watch it. The vulture killing the witch was pretty gross. And the firey bull from hell that destroys all unicorns isn't what you would expect from a unicorn cartoon since sweet little girls like unicorns and fantasy, right."

The Dark Crystal (1982)
Skeksis have to be the creepiest things ever imagined. As a kid I remember the horrifying scene where the Skeksi Emperor dies - not sad at all - and then they all go after his staff of authority.

Even though these movies scared the crap out of me as a kid, I have to admit that they are way better than the disgustingly politically correct movies made for kids today. The creative art of movie making is lost with every overly cliché film pooped out of the movie industry each year.

Goats are no longer worthless animals

2008-12-29T09:40:00.000-08:00

After I finished picking myself up after laughing historically at this photo, I thought - AH HA! there is in fact a place for goats other than my nightmares. This is actually set up for a dog, or group of dogs, found here - Link I think we need to make one for children.

Behold: The Giant Salamander

2008-12-26T08:56:00.001-08:00

The hellbender or Asian giant salamanders (family Cryptobranchidae) have to be the coolest living things on the planet. They look like they dine on pure evil, or McDonalds; whatever is worse. Link

Every Website Should Have This

2008-12-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

The best way to gauge the effectiveness and visibility of your web project is to install a web tracking script provided by statcounter.com. Oh did I mention that its free! You can view a maps and charts showing who has accessed your website, for how long, and where they are. Check it out!

To Beard or Not to Beard

2008-12-08T12:07:00.001-08:00

I have been trying on a beard lately. Who thinks I should keep it growing? Please vote!

Good Music Monday: Interpol

2008-12-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

Do you like R.E.M? Do you like Radiohead? Do you like weird Puppet Music videos? Then you will really like Interpol. Interpol is an American alternative rock band, formed in 1997 in New York City. The band's line-up is Paul Banks (vocals, guitar), Daniel Kessler (guitar, vocals), Carlos Dengler (bass guitar, keyboards - commonly referred to as Carlos D) and Sam Fogarino (drums, percussion). Interpol's debut album Turn on the Bright Lights (2002) was critically acclaimed, making it to tenth position on the NME's list of top albums in 2002. Interpol is one of the bands associated with the New York indie music scene, being one of several groups that emerged out of the post-punk revival of the 2000s.

Lala Music Sample:
The Heinrich Maneuver

Solar Gadgets for Geeks

2008-12-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

Campers keen to keep their water bottle in sight in the dark of night might want a LightCap200 ($24.95). It's a solar-powered light that replaces the cap on most standard 2" wide-mouth bottles, such as a Nalgene and CamelBak. The LEDs turn the whole bottle into a glowing lantern. Fully charged, it will shine for six hours; a sensor automatically turns it off in daylight. Just remember to recharge the battery for the next night. "It's about a 1:1 ratio, for 6-8 hours of direct sunlight, you can get 6-8 hours of light," Dave Robinson, general manager for Simply Brilliant LLC, which makes the gadget, said in an e-mail.

Link See the other 7 on MSNBC

Rube Goldberg Style Christmas Card!

2008-12-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

Roy Doty designed his own christmas cards each year. This one is a Rube Goldberg Style card.
Link

Holy Jello Orange Slices Batman!

2008-12-05T09:08:00.001-08:00

Holiday Orange Wedges! - More DIY How To Projects

Whipper

2008-12-05T08:58:00.000-08:00

Mutant parakeet "Whipper" doesn't know how popular he is. He also doesn't know a lot of things.

How would YOU look with a Fu Man Chu?

2008-12-03T08:20:00.000-08:00

Schick razors has brought us a fun website where you can upload your pic and try on a few facial hair styles. The website makes your face into a creepy 3D person while you try it out.

Link

Signs!

2008-12-02T09:08:00.003-08:00

The LA times has some great signs posted by its readers, here are a few:

Link

Good Music Monday: The Asteroid Galaxy Tour

2008-12-01T10:19:00.000-08:00

GOOD MUSIC MONDAY!
THE ASTEROID GALAXY TOUR

This week we are featuring The Asteroid Galaxy Tour. You might have heard their song "Around the Bend" on the new iPod Touch commercial. This band have successfully mixed art-pop/rock with folk and funk. Great listens!

Music on Lala.com:

Around the Bend:

Paper Bottles

2008-12-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

BrandImage (whose site in an unnavigable, unlinkable Flash blob) have come up with an all-paper bottle. This looks like a concept, not a product, but it's an intriguing one nevertheless.

The 360 Paper Bottle is a sustainable vision of the future. It is the first totally recyclable paper container made from 100% renewable resources. Versatile in its range of consumer applications and made from food-safe and fully recyclable materials, it decreases energy consumed throughout the product life cycle without sacrificing functionality. It is paper packaging that stands up to all liquid categories.

Evil Chair For Sale

2008-12-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

Photo: Alexander Natruskin / REUTERS

Times may be tough for regular Joes like you and me, but the Russian fat cats are partyin’ like it’s 1999 in Moscow’s annual Millionaire Fair. The Russian capital is home to 60,000 millionaires and 30 billionaires (in fact, it has more rich people than any other cities on Earth) - and conspicuous consumption seems to be their mantra.

REUTERS has an interesting photo gallery of this year’s Millionaire Fair (which is filled with beautiful young women looking bored!). This one above is a chair fit for fat cats or super villains, designed by Raw Design: Link - via Oddly Enough

Other Links: BBC News photo gallery of the 2006 Millionaire Fair | ABC News photo galllery

Previously on Neatorama: The Villain Chair

Now that’s an Apple Pie!

2008-12-01T08:35:00.001-08:00

Windell and Lenore at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories used a 45 watt carbon-dioxide laser to score an Apple logo on the top crust of an apple pie. They used a square springform pan to get the crust centered just right, and kept a crust lattice inside the logo to prevent it from distorting while it baked. I heard it was delicious, too. Link